LOCATION Geneva

SPEAKER The High Representative of the EU, Javier Solana

EVENT E3+3 discussions on Iran nuclear programme

DATE 02/10/2009

The High Representative of the EU, Javier Solana, commented on the discussions that took place between the E3+3 countries (Germany, France, the UK, China, Russia and the US) and Iran on Thursday 1 October.

Read the transcript

 I’d like to thank all authorities at all the levels and tell them that (indistinct) will be back.

We had a full day of talks with the Iranian delegation led by Doctor Saeed Jalili, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.  As you know the meeting of today took place after fifteen months of (indistinct) in discussions with Iran on the nuclear dossier (indistinct).  It represented the start of what we hope will be an intensive process.

I ought to mention here as I stand in line to Doctor Jalili that the significance of this meeting was enhanced by the full participation of the United States of America for the first time.  On our side the, we based ourselves on the agreement by the Ministers that we had in New York last week and the framework of the United Nation which are basically on what we call it (indistinct) a dual track.

We put on the table all the issues which we feel need to be discussed and these include the proposal made to Iran last year.  I went in to some detail about how the freeze to freeze, the proposal that we made last year, should be taken forward as a way to full negotiations.  (Indistinct) from the need for Iran to be fully transparent with the International Atomic Energy Agency on all the elements of its nuclear programme especially following the recent developments that you know.

Let me say that I’ve been during the day also in touch on two occasion with Dr Baradei, the Director of the agency.  I and all the representatives of the six countries were united in underlining the importance of full transparency in rebuilding confidence in practical steps.  In the course of the day we had the both plenary and bilateral discussions allowing for details, the exchange of informations and more different (indistinct).

We agreed to intensify dialogue in coming weeks and we expect the progress in the following areas.  First there will be a second meeting before the end of October, an agenda for that meeting will be worked out through diplomatic channels and it will focus on nuclear issues including proposals (indistinct) put forward by both sides.  And it will also deal with some global issues that any of the parties wish to address.

Second Iran has told us that it plans to cooperate fully and immediately with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the new enrichment facility near Qom or near Qom and will invite the agency, experts from the agency to visit the facility soon.  We expect within the next couple of weeks.  Of that issue, of that issue I also talked on the phone to the Director of the agency Mohamed ElBaradei.

Third, in consultation with agency and on the margins of today’s meeting it was agreed in principle that the low enriched uranium produced in Iran would be transported to a third country for further enrichment and fabrication in to fuel, assembled for the Tehran research reactor which, as you know, produce isotopes for medical applications.  Details on this point, this technical one, will be worked out in a meeting of experts from the agency and countries interested, in particular the United States, the Russian Federation and France in Vienna on the 18th of October so that implementation can begin as soon as possible.

In conclusion I’ve should say that this is only a start and we shall need to see progress from some of the practical steps we have discussed today but in any case it has been a day in which I hope that we continue as I’ve said before with the process, intensive process in order to solve the many problems that have still to be resolved.  Thank you very much.

Notes for Editors

Road to 2010: addressing nuclear issues

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