Moscow, Oct 1 (RIA Novosti) Six countries Russia, Britain, China, France, Germany and the US are meeting Iran in Geneva later Thursday for talks on Iran’s nuclear programme and its second uranium enrichment facility, a report said.
The delegations of the six countries will be headed by their deputy foreign ministers. Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and EU’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana will also participate in the meeting.
Western countries suspect Iran of attempting to build nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.
Iran ruled out the possibility of discussing its right for the civilian use of nuclear power, including the construction of a second uranium enrichment site.
Last week, Iran had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about its second enrichment site about 100 km to the south of Tehran. The news was met by indignation from the West. The US, Britain and France have demanded harsher sanctions against Iran.
The IAEA requested an immediate inspection of the facility to make sure it was for civilian purposes. Iran’s envoy to the UN told Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday that it was ready to admit UN nuclear inspectors to the plant.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Iran to cooperate with the IAEA to reach a settlement on Iran’s nuclear programme prior to the meeting.
Mikhail Margelov, the head of the international affairs committee of the federation council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, said that the international community was likely to impose harsher sanctions against Iran, and reiterated Russia’s position that in some cases sanctions were inevitable.
Iranian media reported Monday that the country had tested the longest range missile in its arsenal, a Sajjil surface-to-surface missile with a range of up to 2,000-2,500 kilometre, capable of hitting Israel and parts of Europe.
