Russia expects forthcoming talks with Iran to be successful, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Friday.
The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton has suggested holding a meeting with Iran's top nuclear negotiator and the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on October 17 Tehran was ready for a new round of talks but only on a number of conditions, including a comment by the Iran Six (the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany) on Israel's nuclear capability.
"If we did not expect success, we would not insist on the talks to be launched as soon as possible," Ryabkov said. "There's no use in holding hopeless talks," he continued adding that Russia wants the date for the talks to be fixed as soon as possible.
Talks between Tehran and the Iran Six came to a halt in 2009, after an IAEA resolution condemned the Islamic Republic over the construction of a second uranium enrichment facility.
The UN Security Council imposed a fourth set of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program in June.
BRUSSELS, October 22 (RIA Novosti)
