US hails Iran-P5+1 talks as ‘positive’

April 15th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

“We believe… the talks in Istanbul have been a positive first step, that there was a constructive atmosphere, that the Iranians came to the table and engaged in a discussion about their nuclear program,” said Benn Rhodes, US Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications, speaking to reporters Saturday on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas in the Colombian city of Cartagena.

The Saturday negotiations between Tehran and the P5+1 – Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, plus Germany – “have set a course whereby we can give diplomacy a very serious and firm commitment as we seek to resolve this longstanding issue,” he asserted.

Rhodes also hailed the consensus reached between the two sides to convene another round of talks in Baghdad next month as “an additional positive sign.”

Iran and other P5+1 members have also described the negotiations as “constructive” and “positive.”

The first round of the negotiations was held Saturday morning in Istanbul, followed by bilateral talks between Iran and representatives of the P5+1 powers, excluding the United States. The second round of talks continued in the afternoon.

Sources close to the Iranian delegation said Iran’s negotiators rejected multiple pleas by the US for bilateral talks following the first round of talks and again before the beginning of the second round.

The Iranian delegation was headed by Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili while the delegations of the six world powers were led by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

Tehran and the P5+1 had held two rounds of multifaceted talks in the past, one in Geneva in December 2010 and another in Istanbul in January 2011.

ASH/MFB/HJL