… EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the US, the UK, China, Russia and France – and Germany agreed to a new round of nuclear talks with Iran.

Previous talks have not achieved what the powers want – an end to uranium enrichment on Iranian soil. The last round of negotiations in January 2011 ended in failure.

… Baroness Ashton said in a statement that the EU hopes Iran “will now enter into a sustained process of constructive dialogue which will deliver real progress in resolving the international community’s long-standing concerns on its nuclear programme”.