Iran wants to form sub-committees in the next round of multilateral nuclear talks to be held later this month in Istanbul, acting Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said Friday, according to dpa. That way, issues in the fields of economy, security or nuclear issues could be followed up by Iran and negotiators from Russia, China, the United States, France, Britain and Germany, Salehi told the ISNA news agency. Iran is rejecting the UN Security Council's demand to freeze uranium enrichment. At talks last month in GenevaTehran was only willing to discuss non-nuclear issues. While Salehi, who is also chief of the country's Atomic Energy Organization, is unlikely to attend the January 21 talks in Istanbul, he is believed to be the main architect of Iran's position. Salehi said that as a sign of goodwill and to demonstrate the peaceful nature of the programmes, several international organizations have been invited for January 15 to tour the country's nuclear sites. The six powers have turned down the offer as propaganda,saying inspections should be carried out by the International Atomic Energy Organization, not their diplomats.
