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                 Iran, World Powers to Hold Nuclear Talks at UN

   by VOA News

   European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton says Iranian
   Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will join the five permanent U.N.
   Security Council members and Germany later this week to discuss the
   crisis over Iran's nuclear program. The meeting is expected to be held
   Thursday.
   Ashton spoke to reporters after meeting Zarif and his British and
   French counterparts ahead of this week's U.N. General Assembly session
   in New York. She said it was a "good and constructive discussion."
   Iran's Fars news agency has reported the moderate Zarif will lead
   nuclear talks with world powers, succeeding a conservative who had
   overseen a hardening of Tehran's position.
   Since 2007, sporadic negotiations had been conducted by the hardline
   Saeed Jalili, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war who was seen by Western
   negotiators as an uncompromising ideologue.
   Also Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged Western leaders to
   heed his appeals for greater dialogue and take steps to ease painful
   economic sanctions as he left for New York to attend the U.N. General
   Assembly.
   The official IRNA news agency quoted Rouhani as saying the West should
   choose the "path of interaction, talks and leniency, so we can reach
   joint interests." He also called sanctions "unacceptable and illegal"
   and a roadblock to progress on settling the nuclear impasse.
   Rouhani hopes to use the annual U.N. gathering to win promises to
   restart stalled talks over Tehran's nuclear program. He also is
   appealing to the U.S. and allies to roll back sanctions to move ahead
   the negotiations.
   The West suspects Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. Iran denies the
   charge, saying its nuclear activities are designed for peaceful
   purposes like power generation and cancer treatment.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/iran-world-powers-to-hold-nuclear-tal
   ks-at-un/1755182.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/iran-world-powers-to-hold-nuclear-talks-at-un/1755182.html