BICOM

A new round of nuclear talks between six world powers (Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States) and Iran begin today in another effort to persuade Tehran to halt its nuclear development programme. The meeting takes place today in Istanbul and follows a meeting that took place last month in Geneva, which marked the first nuclear talks with Iran in over a year. There are low expectations of any substantial progress during this new round of talks. “We’re not expecting any big breakthroughs but we want to see a constructive process emerge that … leads to Iran engaging with the international community in a credible process and addressing the international community’s concerns about its nuclear program,” said US State Department spokesperson Mark Toner.

Western countries believe Iran is developing its nuclear programme to produce a nuclear weapon. Tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme rose last year as the UN imposed new sanctions and Western countries rejected a revised proposal by Iran involving an overseas swap of its nuclear fuel to receive enriched uranium.