TEHRAN – In a telephone call on Monday, Iran’s top security official and nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana set October 1 as the date for the restart of talks between Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members the UN Security Council and Germany).

The agreement for restarting talks came as Iran delivered its updated package of proposals to the 5+1 group last Wednesday.
The venue of the talks is still unknown.
Jalili described Iran’s new package of proposals as a suitable ground for achieving peace, justice and development in the world.
With the backing of its people who 85 percent of them participated in the June 12 presidential election, Iran is “highly determined and motivated” to be actively involved for more “cooperation and interaction” in the world.
Solana said it is essential to hold face to face talks in order to better review all scopes of Iran’s new package.
Solana, EU’s top diplomat, has been representing France, Britain, Germany, U.S., China, and Russia in talks with Iran, expressed hope that the upcoming talks will yield fruitful results.
In a statement issued on Friday, Solana said he seeks a meeting with Jalili “at the earliest possible opportunity”.
In its new package Iran has proposed to a worldwide control system aimed at eliminating nuclear weapons and planning “mechanisms for use of clean nuclear energy in agriculture, industry, and medicine and power generation.”
Iran has also offered to cooperate on solving problems in Afghanistan and fighting terrorism and to collaborate on oil and gas projects.
Solana’s spokeswoman Cristina Gallach said representatives of the six nations are expected to be present in the talks, although the details have not yet been worked out.
Iran ready for unconditional negotiations on nuclear issue
Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Director Ali Akbar Salehi has said that the Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to maintain its close cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“Unconditional negotiation is the key to resolving the disputes,” he stated at the IAEA annual conference in Vienna on Monday.
The nuclear arms race was not beneficial for the world and only led to years of the Cold War, he added.
And it is discouraging to see that the same hegemonistic tendencies are still prevalent, he lamented.
“Unfortunately, when my country bravely and single-handedly challenged this hegemonistic climate, some Western countries” made irrational statements about the need to safeguard their national interests, Salehi said.
When Iran justifiably attempted to defend its national interests, they blatantly opposed it and continuously threatened to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, he added.
However, threatening a nation that has patiently endured all the suffering of an imposed war (the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war) and unjust sanctions is futile, he opined.
“We are a pacifist nation and believe that unconditional and equitable negotiations are the keys to settling disagreements,” he noted.
He went on to say that a conditional negotiation process is not constructive since that would be tantamount to prejudgment.
“We have explicitly declared that we are opposed to the non-peaceful use of nuclear energy. That is why we are adamant about the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear disarmament.
“The Middle East is one of the most geo-strategic regions in the world, and in 1974, Iran was the first country in the region that called for a nuclear weapon-free region. Israel is the only country in the region that is not a member of the (nuclear) Non-Proliferation Treaty and that has not cooperated.”
Israel has always disregarded world public opinion and the international community’s calls for peace and security and has not allowed the IAEA to inspect its nuclear plants, he pointed out.
Salehi insisted that the Islamic Republic of Iran will never tolerate discriminatory treatment.
“We observed the additional protocol (to the NPT) voluntarily for two and a half years only to demonstrate the transparency of our actions and our cooperation. We went beyond our legal liabilities. However, unfortunately, this positive move did not receive a proper response.”
But after a while, Iran and the IAEA came to terms over the implementation of a timetable in order to terminate the agency’s special investigations and to normalize the oversight procedures, Salehi added.
“We are still hopeful that the agency will keep its word and fulfill its responsibilities.”
If Iran’s nuclear dossier is normalized, Iran will answer any relevant questions, he stated.