Iran’s Zarif, EU’s Ashton Hold Bilateral Meeting in New York
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A new round of nuclear negotiations between Tehran and six world powers kicked off in New York on Wednesday with a meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the outgoing European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton.
The meeting lasted more than three hours.
The talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) are re-starting after a two-month hiatus. The two sides will seek to settle a decade-long standoff on Tehran’s nuclear case.
Catherine Ashton coordinates diplomacy with Iran on behalf of the six world powers.
Michael Mann, the spokesman for Ashton, announced on his Twitter account on Wednesday that the aim of the talks “is to secure a comprehensive solution that will reassure international community of peaceful nature of Iranian nuclear program.”
“Gaps on the core issues remain huge, but clear objective is to work towards closing the gaps and to seek maximum progress,” man tweeted.
Diplomats from the six countries are scheduled to begin meeting among themselves on Thursday before they all sit down with the Iranian delegation on Friday.
The negotiations are expected to run until at least September 26 on the sidelines of next week's annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.
In November 2013, Iran and world powers signed an interim deal in Geneva, which took effect on January 20 and expired six months later on July 20.
In July, Tehran and the six countries agreed to extend negotiations until November 24 in the hope of clinching a final deal.
