Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi on Monday asked the P5+1 to lift sanctions against Tehran before the next round of nuclear talks in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad in May, local media reported.

Talking to the semi-official ISNA news agency, Salehi said that "If the West wants to build trust (in the process of resolving Iran's nuclear issue), it should start from (lifting) sanctions since this will speed up the process of coming to terms."

"It is true that the process of lifting sanction may be long, but there is no reason to make it longer," he was quoted as saying.

"If there is a good will, this process can be crossed very easily and we are ready to settle all the issues very quickly and easily even in Baghdad meeting," Salehi said.

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

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