Ahmadinejad, Putin discuss upcoming nuke talks

TEHRAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed the upcoming talks between Tehran and the six world powers in Iraq's capital of Baghdad on May 23 during a phone conversation on Saturday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

During the phone talk, Ahmadinejad, who is on a provincial visit to Khorassan Razavi province in northeastern Iran, extended his congratulations to Putin, who was sworn in on Monday as Russian president.

The two presidents also discussed expansion of mutual cooperation between Tehran and Moscow in different technological and economic fields, said the report, without providing further details.

The last round of nuclear talks between Iran and the UN Security Council's five permanent members - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - plus Germany (P5+1) concluded in Turkey's Istanbul in April, with all sides describing the talks as positive and agreeing to meet again in the Iraqi capital on May 23.