Iran's controversial nuclear program should not be the only issue on the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the Iran Six in Istanbul on January 21-22, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday.
"Other issues should be on the agenda, including prospects to drop [the current set of] sanctions [against the Islamic state] as Iran begins to cooperate with the IAEA more efficiently and close these issues," Lavrov said.
Economic cooperation and cooperation in regional affairs are also very important topics, Lavrov said.
"It would be good if a program on the further work [of the Iran Six] is agreed upon during the meeting [in Istanbul]," he added.
The last week, Iranian Acting Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Tehran would not discuss its nuclear program in Istanbul.
"We will absolutely not recognize the negotiation if the other side wants to negotiate on the issue of the [Iranian] nuclear dossier," Salehi said.
The West, led by the United States, suspects Iran of pursuing a secret nuclear weapons program, but the Islamic Republic, under a few sets of international sanctions already, insists it needs nuclear power only for civilian purposes.
The Iran Six, which comprises Russia, the United States, China, Britain, France and Germany, has been trying since 2003 to convince Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program and to alleviate concerns about its nuclear ambitions.
MOSCOW, January 20 (RIA Novosti)
