Kazakhstan, Switzerland ready for hosting Iran-G5+1 talks

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi stated that Kazakhstan Republic and Switzerland have declared their readiness to host Tehran and world powers' nuclear talks. Salehi made the remarks in a press conference held on the sidelines of the 20th African Union (AU) Summit in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Sunday, according to (IRNA) news agency. The Foreign Minister stressed continuation of talks with G5+1 for determining the venue for upcoming nuclear talks. The Group 5+1 (the five permanent members of UN Security Council plus Germany) is soon due to hold a regular meeting with Iran. It was said initially that the talks will be held in Turkey, but later it was announced that they could take place in Egypt. The latest talks between Iran and Group 5+1 took place in Istanbul in April 2012. The second round of talks took place in Baghdad in May 2012, the third in Moscow in June 2012. Foreign minister voiced Iran's readiness for expansion of mutual cooperation and bilateral ties with the African states and transfer of Iran's technical know-how and experiences to those countries, especially in the engineering field. Responding to a question on relations between Iran and the African states, the Iranian foreign minister said that Iran's presence in the AU summit is indicative of the important status of the African countries in Iran's foreign policy. Salehi described the African continent's future as bright and underlined Iran's preparedness for enhancement of bilateral ties with the African countries and helping to development of African countries. Meanwhile, He called for the peaceful resolution of crisis in African country of Mali and noted that Islamic Republic of Iran as the head of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is ready to help the resolution of crisis in Mali and dispatch human aids to the war-torn country. Leaders of the 54-nation AU and representatives of international organizations and observer nations have attended the Summit. The AU Summit reviews the most important African issues as well as global developments.