Iran warns powers against excessive nuclear demands

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday warned against "excessive demands" by world powers at nuclear talks due to resume in Geneva this week, an official website reported. "At the recent Geneva talks good progress was made, but everyone must realise excessive demands could complicate the process towards a win-win agreement," www.dolat.ir quoted Rouhani as telling Russian President Vladimir Putin. Iran and the P5+1 group of nations begin a new round of talks at Geneva on Wednesday, after the two sides failed to clinch a deal in high-level, marathon negotiations earlier this month. "From our point of view, there should not be a situation in which the will of parties to reach mutually acceptable agreement is affected," the website quoted Rouhani as telling Putin by phone. He "thanked Russia for its position in Geneva" and stressed that Iran's nuclear drive is "peaceful and under the control" of the UN atomic agency. The Kremlin earlier reported that Putin spoke to Rouhani on Monday and told him there was "a real chance" of finding a solution to the decade-old nuclear stand-off between Iran and the West.