Itongadol.- Six world powers and Iran started their first negotiations in six months on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his security cabinet calling on the P5+1 to maintain sanctions against Tehran until it dismantles its nuclear program.
The six nations – the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany – will pressure Iran over the two-day meeting in Geneva to agree to scale back its nuclear program in return for relief from economic sanctions.
A European Union spokesman said that Iran put forward proposals regarding the dispute over its nuclear program as talks got underway.
Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said Iran presented the ideas in nearly hour-long power point presentation but gave no details.
The EU spokesman described the Iranian presentation as "very useful" in a carefully worded comment that indicated Iran had gone further than in the past in its willingness to engage.
In a possible sign of the Islamic Republic\’s determination to meaningfully address specifics of the powers\’ concerns, the talks in Geneva were conducted in English for the first time.
Mann said there was a sense of "cautious optimism" ahead of the two-day meeting and that Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Tehran\’s chief negotiator, dined together on Monday evening in a "very positive atmosphere".