Russia optimistic about outcomes of upcoming nuclear talks between Iran, G5+1

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov underlined that Moscow is hopeful about the results of the talks between the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) and Iran. Speaking at a press conference in Moscow on Friday, Bogdanov said Russia expects constructive results out of talks scheduled for October 15 and 16. He added the next round of negotiations between Iran and the G5+1 would be different from the previous rounds, hoping that all participants in the upcoming Geneva talks would adopt a more constructive approach, the Islamic republic news agency reported. On April 6, Iran and the six world powers wrapped up two days of intensive negotiations in Almaty. The Iranian team was led by Saeed Jalili, and the G5+1's representatives were presided by EU foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton. Washington and its western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry. Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment. Tehran has dismissed West's demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing that sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians' national resolve to continue the path. Tehran has repeatedly said that it considers its nuclear case closed as it has come clean of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s questions and suspicions about its past nuclear activities.