Iran's Jalili hails 'more realistic' nuclear talks

World powers are taking a "more realistic" approach to the Iranian nuclear standoff, Tehran's chief negotiator said Wednesday, announcing a resumption of talks in March and then at a higher level in April. "Some of the points raised in their (the world powers') response were more realistic comparing to what they said in the past," Saeed Jalili told reporters after two days of talks wound down over the decade-old nuclear impasse in the Kazakh city of Almaty. He said all sides agreed to meet in the same city on April 5-6 after first gathering their nuclear experts for consultations in Istanbul in March. "It was agreed to convene an expert level meeting in Istanbul on March 18, which would be followed by the 5+1 meeting with Iran on April 5-6 in Almaty," Jalili told reporters. The world powers offered Iran to ease some of the sanctions imposed against it in exchange for some curbs on uranium enrichment that the powers believe Iran is pursuing to develop a nuclear bomb. Jalili said he viewed the overall tenor of the meeting as "positive." "We consider these talks as a positive step which could be completed by taking a positive and constructive approach and taking reciprocal steps," he said. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov confirmed Iran and world powers will hold their next talks over the Iranian nuclear crisis in Istanbul on March 17-18 at expert level. "As a result of two days of negotiations, an agreement has been reached for a meeting at expert level in Istanbul on March 17-18," Ryabkov said, quoted by the state RIA-Novosti news agency. The expert-level meetings usually involve senior civil servants ranking below the top negotiators from both sides.