Iran, world powers confirm Istanbul as host to nuclear talks

World powers and Iran have confirmed that a new round of nuclear talks will take place in Istanbul on April 14 after Iranian officials came up with suggestions for alternative venues in recent days. Diplomatic sources said European Union's chief foreign policy official, Catherine Ashton, and Iran's chief negotiator for nuclear talks called Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday to confirm that the nuclear talks will be in Istanbul on April 14. Ashton handles contact with Iran on behalf of the P5+1 group, which is comprised of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- United States, Britain, France, Russia, China -- and Germany. Ashton also thanked Turkey for its contribution to the process. Davutoglu also expressed his concerns to Saeed Jalili, who is also the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, over the recent reports in Iranian media that alleged Davutoglu apologized to Iran over Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent criticism of Iran. Jalili said he will immediately investigate the matter. Davutoglu also called UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss the latest developments regarding Syria. Davutoglu briefed Ban about the latest incident in Turkish border and UN-Arab league envoy to Syria Kofi Annan’s planned visit to Hatay refugee camp on Tuesday. The tension at Turkey’s border with Syria got tense after Syrian forces fired shots near the border on Monday, wounding 19 and killing two Syrian refugees according to reports from the Kilis province near the border. Enraged Syrian refugees started protesting near the Turkish-Syrian border following the incident and they were also shot by Syrian troops. Two Syrian and two Turkish nationals were injured during the shooting. Davutoglu asked Lavrov to send a clear message to Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moallem regarding the unceasing killings in Syria. He briefed Lavrov about the border incident and asked him to convey to Moallem that violence in Syria has become a security problem for Turkey’s border along with humanitarian situation. Davutoglu also had talks with his Chinese counterpart on Monday to discuss Syria. Diplomatic sources said Davutoglu is expected to have telephone conversations with his US, French and British counterparts later on Monday.