Iranian FM off to New York for nuclear talks

TEHRAN, Sept 16 (KUNA) -- Iran's Foreign Minister headed to New York Tuesday to resume nuclear talks with major powers.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was to hold a working lunch with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, the lead negotiator for the six powers, his deputy Abbas Araqchi said.
The two diplomats will set the terms for the relaunch of negotiations for a comprehensive deal on the future scope of Iran's nuclear program to allay international concerns about its ambitions, Araqchi told state news agency (IRNA).
The talks on Wednesday and Thursday will take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the same venue where in September last year Rouhani held a historic telephone call with President Barack Obama, overcoming more than three decades of estrangement between the two governments.
"We hope that after the discussions that we have had with the Americans, the Russians and the Chinese, and the talks we will have on Wednesday and Thursday, we will able to make progress," he said.
The six powers, all of which except Germany sit on the U.N. Security Council and have nuclear weapons themselves, want Iran to scale back its atomic program to ease fears the Islamic Republic is working on producing a bomb.
Tehran, which says its nuclear program is exclusively for power generation and medical uses, in return wants painful European Union and US sanctions lifted. (end) mw.gta