The European Union confirmed Wednesday afternoon that Iran's chief
nuclear negotiator had replied to the letter EU foreign policy chief Catherine
Ashton sent him in October offering to re-open talks on Iran's nuclear program.
"We have received the letter from Dr. [Saeed] Jalili today...We are
carefully studying the letter and consulting with our" partners, Maja
Kocijancic, spokeswoman for Ashton said in a statement.
She had no comment on the contents of the letter. One EU diplomat, who had seen
the letter, said Jalili had sent a one page response to Ashton.
The EU has said it can only restart talks if
Iran
pledges to engage seriously with the concerns about its nuclear program. The
U.S.
and
many EU countries have accused
Tehran
of
seeking to build nuclear weapons, a charge that
Tehran
denies.
The news came as Iranian state media reported that the country plans to cut oil
supplies to six European Union countries in response to a crude oil export ban
the EU agreed to in January. The embargo takes full effect in July.