Micheal Mann: Ashton not officially invited to visit Iran

Michael Mann, the spokesman of EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton, underlined her willingness to visit Tehran, but said Ashton has not yet been officially invited to go on such trip. “Ashton has not received any official invitation letter, but she is interested in having a trip to Tehran to improve the nuclear negotiations,” Mann told FNA on Sunday. He said Ashton has just been informed of Iran's interest in such a visit through the recent media reports. Meantime, Mann said “Ashton has earlier announced that she favors a trip to Tehran while efforts (by Iran and the world powers) to reach a comprehensive nuclear agreement are still underway”. Earlier today, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi said Tehran has invited Ashton for a visit, but said no date has yet been specified for her trip. “The invitation is nothing new, but is true,” Araqchi told FNA on Sunday, dismissing media reports saying that Ashton plans to visit Iran in the next few weeks. Yet, Araqchi implied that the invitation has not been extended in written, and has just been mentioned during the nuclear talks between the Iranian and EU negotiators. Referring to his Thursday and Friday meeting with Ashton’s Deputy Helga Schmidt in Geneva, he said, “During the trip and in a meeting with Ms. Schmidt, I renewed the invitation to Ms. Ashton, but there is yet no decision for the trip.” Ashton chairs the delegations of the six world powers in the talks with Iran. On November 24, Iran and the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany) sealed a six-month Joint Plan of Action to lay the groundwork for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over its nuclear energy program. In exchange for Tehran’s confidence-building bid to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the Sextet of world powers agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against Tehran and continue talks with the country to settle all problems between the two sides.