Top Iranian official rejects Turkey as nuke talks venue

PanARMENIAN.Net - The head of an influential foreign policy committee in Iran's parliament said the country does not want Turkey to host talks with world powers over Tehran's nuclear program, raising further questions Thursday, April 4 about whether negotiations can begin as scheduled next week, AP reported.

The comments by Alaeddin Boroujerdi do not represent the final word by Iran's ruling system, but strongly suggest a growing impasse ahead of talks set to start April 13 between Iran and the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany.

Iran has balked at having the negotiations in Istanbul because of Turkey's escalating pressure on the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a key Iranian ally. Boroujerdi, head of the parliamentary committee for national security and foreign policy, supported Baghdad as a venue, one of several alternative sites floated by Iran in recent days. Iraq's Shiite-led government has long-standing ties with Iran, and other sites mentioned by Iran - Syria, Lebanon or China - are also allies of Tehran.

"Iranian officials are not interested in Turkey as the host," Boroujerdi was quoted as saying by the independent Etemad newspaper.

Western officials have complained about Iran bargaining over the venue for this month's planned talks with world powers. Boroujerdi's comments were published shortly after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged Iran to commit to nuclear negotiations as soon as possible, describing the time for a diplomatic solution as limited.

Mohammad Farhad Koleini, a political analyst in Tehran, said Turkey's policies toward Syria have sharply soured relations with Iran.

"Turkey has shown interest in playing in the ground of the West," he said. "It tried to carry the flag of changes in Syria without considering that it could lead to doubts about Turkey's position among its neighbors." The hard-line Javan daily wrote, "Turkey has lost its impartiality."

The newspaper said Ali Akbar Velayati, the international adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, believed holding talks in Baghdad will "promote the political weight of Iraq," a critical backer of Tehran as Western sanctions bite into Iran's economy.