After stalemate in Istanbul, Iran's Ahmadinejad hopes for more talks

After two days of meetings in Istanbul between Iran and major world powers on Iran's nuclear program ended without any progress, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday his country hopes for more talks on the controversy. "If the other party is determined and committed to law, justice and respect, there is hope that in the next sessions good results will be achieved," Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech to a crowd in the city of Rasht. An Iranian delegation met with the group of P5+1 countries (the five permanent UN Security Council members the US, Russia, China, Britain and France, plus Germany) in Istanbul on Friday and Saturday. European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who headed the P5+1 delegation, at the end of the talks called the Iranian stance "disappointing," adding that no further meetings are scheduled although the door remains open for dialogue. Ashton said the talks failed because of what the P5+1 considers unrealistic demands by Iran, namely an end to UN sanctions and recognition of Iran's right to continue to enrich uranium. "The process can go forward if Iran chooses to respond positively," she said. "The door remains open. The choice remains in Iran's hands." Iran insists it has the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes and that enrichment rights are not up for negotiation. The West, on the other hand, suspects that uranium enrichment could give Iran the capacity to produce nuclear warheads in the near future. Iran also says the sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council last year are illegal. In a statement after the talks, Turkey's Foreign Ministry welcomed statements from both sides that the door for dialogue remains open. "We expect them to extensively consider the proposals made in Istanbul," said the statement, stressing that Turkey will continue its efforts for a peaceful solution of the dispute.