Iran presents new proposals in Baghdad talks

Iran has proposed a "new and comprehensive" package of proposals to six world powers during talks on Wednesday in Baghdad over its nuclear programme, Iranian media reported. "In this session of negotiations, Iran presented to the P5+1 a package comprising five points that include a range of nuclear and non-nuclear issues," the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported. "In the first session, the P5+1 presented its proposals to Iran, but apparently from the Iranian point of view this package is not balanced," the report said, without citing a source. The P5+1 also presented what was described as a new package of proposals to Iranian negotiators in the first meeting. An EU spokesman refused to elaborate on the contents but said it focused on addressing Western concerns about Iran's high-grade uranium enrichment activities. Iran's state news agency said the proposals laid out by Iran were "comprehensive", unlike those of the P5+1, which it described as "nit-picking". Iranian negotiators expected world powers to respond to its proposals at the next session, it reported. The United States and its allies have imposed tough sanctions on Iran's energy and financial sectors to try to force it to compromise and open up its activities to scrutiny. Iran has long stated that its activities are purely peaceful however, and has said it wants Wednesday's meeting to address the issue of sanctions with a view to rolling some of them back. European Union members states are set to introduce a total embargo of Iranian crude oil purchases in July.