DHAKA: An Iranian official said on Wednesday that he saw an ‘opening’ in Iran’s nuclear dispute with the West, a news agency reported, in the latest signal that Tehran expects fresh movement to break a decade-old deadlock.

The United States and its allies believe Iran is seeking a nuclear weapons capability, and have imposed sanctions aimed at stopping it. Iran denies it wants a bomb and says its nuclear energy programme has peaceful aims.

Iran and world powers have been engaged in negotiations which have so far failed to resolve the dispute.

The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, said he expected there could be a breakthrough in the talks by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, 1392, which ends in March 2014.

‘This year, in the coming months, we will witness openings in this issue...We expect that in the coming months we will see the start of the process of exiting the nuclear issue,’ Salehi said, according to the Mehr news agency, reports The Jerusalem Post.

BDST: 1925 HRS, SEPT 18, 2013
RoR/GCP