国际英语新闻：Iran agrees on venue of nuclear talks, time, agenda still to be negotiated

TEHRAN, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Iran announced Sunday that it is ready for nuclear talks to be held in Turkey, yet, it said, time and agenda of the forthcoming meeting with the five UN Security Council permanent members and Germany (G5+1) still need to be negotiated.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran has agreed to hold talks with the six major powers in Turkey.

Talking on the sidelines of a meeting with his Singaporean counterpart George Yeo Yong Boon in Tehran, Mottaki said Iran hopes that agreements on the content and date of the talks be reached.

"The agreements on the venue of the talks (with G5+1) has almost been finalized," he said, adding "we have informed our friends in Turkey that we agreed with the talks in this country ( Turkey)."

"The negotiations between the sides is moving well... and we hope that the agreements on the date and agenda (of the talks) will be reached soon," he was quoted as saying by the semi- official Mehr news agency.

Iran welcomes the consensus among the G5+1 members over Iran's viewpoints on the content of the talks, said Mottaki, according to Mehr.

Iran has already pointed out that it demands diverse issues to be included in the nuclear talks which are of interest to the country.

In October, the U.S. welcomed Iran's willingness to resume talks about its nuclear program after a one-year break, saying the U.S. has long sought to have a sustained engagement and discussions with Iran on a range of issues.

"Iran has always had positive and constructive approach to the talks," Mottaki said, emphasizing that "we hope the talks will start soon."

In the meantime, a senior Iranian lawmaker called for the multifaceted talks in the upcoming meeting between Iran and G5+1 which might include diverse issues of interest for both sides.

Kazem Jalali, however, warned that the world's major powers had better change their tried but failed "negotiations-sanctions" strategy towards Iran in the upcoming talks, according to the English language satellite Press TV.

"This strategy is worn out and has failed and Westerners had better cease using this strategy in the upcoming negotiations," Jalali said on Sunday.

Iran considers negotiations as the best approach to the nuclear issue, said Jalali according to the report.

On Saturday, the Iranian lawmaker Javad Jahangirzadeh said Iran is seeking to reach understanding in the nuclear talks with the major powers, adding that they should avoid complicating negotiations which might hurt the outcomes, according to Press TV.

"Western countries act in such a way so as to be able to blame any problem on Iran... and this means they do not seek to promote understanding," Jahangirzadeh was quoted as saying.

In October, European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in Brussels that Iran has announced readiness to resume talks over the nuclear program after Nov. 10 which had been suspended since last October when the two sides met in Geneva.

Western countries have called on Tehran to halt its sensitive nuclear program but the country ruled out the calls and insisted that its nuclear activities are aimed at civilian purposes.