Putin sees real chance for Iran nuclear talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that there is a "real chance" to tackle the Iranian nuclear issue, the Kremlin said Monday in a statement. Following a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, Putin said that he believes there will be an opportunity to find a solution to the stand-off. Rouhani, for his part, praised the efforts of Russia in the group of six international mediators alongside Britain, China, France, Germany and the United States, said the statement. Iran and the six world powers held talks earlier this month in a bid to reach a preliminary agreement on its nuclear program. While the talks fell apart, a second round is slated for Wednesday. Also on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday's talks could be switched to ministerial level. "Depending on the course of the work, we will be ready to organize a ministerial segment of this event as we did previously, and see whether we have common ground," Interfax news agency quoted him as saying. Iranian nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said Saturday that his country and the world powers would meet in the coming days for "tough" talks. Western powers and Israel accuse Iran of using its nuclear program to build weapons while the Islamic Republic insists its right to explore nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.