Iran-Sextet Nuclear Talks Enter 6th Day
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A two-week round of negotiations between Iran and six world powers over Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program entered its sixth day in Vienna with a meeting between top negotiators from Iran and the European Union, which coordinates diplomacy on behalf of the powers.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is heading the country’s nuclear team, held bilateral meeting with European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherin Ashton in the Austrian capital this morning.
Since July 2, delegates from Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) have launched a new round of high-profile talks in the Austrian capital in a bid to hammer out a comprehensive deal on Tehran’s nuclear case.
The long-awaited accord is aimed at resolving the decade-long standoff on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.
The two sides have now less than two weeks to clinch a deal by their self-imposed deadline that expires on July 20.
The ongoing talks will continue until at least July 15. If required, the negotiating parties would carry on consultations to the last moment on July 20.
Over the past few days, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and EU Deputy Foreign Policy Chief Helga Schmid have held a number of meetings to discuss details of the text of a final deal.
The speculation suggest that the main sticking points in the course of talks include limitations on Iran’s uranium enrichment activities, the fate of Arak-heavy water research reactor, the duration of any nuclear deal and the timetable for ending the sanctions.
Iran and the G5+1 (alternatively known as P5+1 or E3+3) on November 24, 2013, clinched an interim nuclear deal in the Swiss city of Geneva.
The breakthrough agreement (the Joint Plan of Action), which has come into effect since January 20, stipulates that over the course of six months, Iran and the six countries will draw up a comprehensive nuclear deal which will lead to a lifting of the whole sanctions on Iran.
