DHAKA: Iran on Tuesday laid out a hotly-awaited proposal to break the deadlock in talks with world powers over its nuclear programme, diplomats said, in a test of a thaw under new president Hassan Rouhani.

The hour-long PowerPoint presentation by foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his negotiators was for the first time delivered in English, officials said, underlining a new mood in the often-tense nuclear talks.

Iran’s archfoe Israel has warned the world not to fall for ‘sweet talk’ from Rouhani but Western negotiators insisted they were not naive.

No details of the proposal, entitled ‘Closing an Unnecessary Crisis, and Opening a New Horizon’, emerged from the closed-door talks after an initial session of two and a half hours, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1923 HRS, OCT 15, 2013
RoR/JCK