ISTANBUL: Differences between Iran and six world powers over Tehran's nuclear programme should not be "overblown," the head of the Russian delegation said Friday on the eve of crunch talks in Istanbul.
"We want to be constructive and we don't want to overblow the differences," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters following separate bilateral talks with his Iranian and Chinese counterparts.
He said that the "final destination in the near future" of Iran's negotiations with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany was the removal of UN and Western sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic.
"We really need to find a middle course ... The negotiations are about renewing confidence," Ryabkov said.
Russia and China have traditionally been more lenient on Iran than their Western counterparts on the UN Security Council, although they too have expressed frustration at Tehran's behaviour and have backed several rounds of sanctions.
The West and Israel, the sole if undeclared nuclear power in the Middle East, suspect Iran of trying to built atomic weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear programme, a charge Tehran denies.
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