BRUSSELS // Talks between world powers and Iran on its controversial nuclear programme should resume January 20 in Istanbul, an aide to European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Friday.
"It's a tentative date we're looking at," Ashton's spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told AFP. "We have positive feedback from Iran."
A previous round of talks between Iran and six world powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany -- spearheaded by Ashton, took place in Geneva on December 6-7.
That round followed a 14-month hiatus in the discussions.
The upcoming second round of talks in the Turkish city were expected to last one and half days, the spokeswoman added.
The West suspects Tehran is pursuing an atomic weapons programme under the guise of civilian nuclear work. Iran denies the charges and insists its activities have a purely peaceful purpose.
Tehran this week invited the EU to tour its nuclear sites, along with other nations.
But Brussels said it was up to UN inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to carry out the visits.
Iran's foreign ministry this week said invitations to visit Iran's nuclear sites in Natanz and Arak had been sent to ambassadors of some of the nations represented in the IAEA.
Diplomatic sources at the Vienna-based nuclear watchdog said invites went out to Russia, China, Egypt and Cuba as well as to Hungary, as rotating EU president since January 1.
An EU official said Wednesday the bloc had not answered the letter and reiterated that the IAEA "are the people who have to inspect the Iranian nuclear facilities."
IAEA sources said Britain, France, Germany and the United States were not on the list of countries invited to see the sites.
A senior Iranian official said in Damascus on Monday that the January talks could resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme.
"We think (the negotiations), in line with the agenda decided in Geneva, could clear the way to resolving problems," said Ali Bagheri, deputy to Said Jalili, Iran's nuclear negotiator.
Iran's nuclear programme has grown under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, attracting four rounds of UN sanctions and other unilateral punitive measures from various countries, including the United States.
Ahmadinejad said in December that the Geneva talks were "very good", adding "it is time that they (world powers) change the policy of confrontation to engagement."
Analysts and diplomats said they failed to dissipate distrust between world powers and Iran, but marked the beginning of a new phase of dialogue.
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Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
UAE central contracts
Full time contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ahmed Raza, Mohammed Usman, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid
Part time contracts
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COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
MATCH INFO
Burnley 1 (Brady 89')
Manchester City 4 (Jesus 24', 50', Rodri 68', Mahrez 87')
No Shame
Lily Allen
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
At a glance
- 20,000 new jobs for Emiratis over three years
- Dh300 million set aside to train 18,000 jobseekers in new skills
- Managerial jobs in government restricted to Emiratis
- Emiratis to get priority for 160 types of job in private sector
- Portion of VAT revenues will fund more graduate programmes
- 8,000 Emirati graduates to do 6-12 month replacements in public or private sector on a Dh10,000 monthly wage - 40 per cent of which will be paid by government
England Test squad
Ben Stokes (captain), Joe Root, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
SHAITTAN
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Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
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Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
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Company%20Profile
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Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
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