Iran, Sextet Hold 2nd Day of Expert Talks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A new round of expert-level talks between delegations from Iran and the group of six world powers entered the second day in a row in Vienna as the negotiating parties try to sort out differences over various issues to secure a comprehensive nuclear deal.
The talks, which began in Austria on Wednesday, are co-chaired by Hamid Baeedinejad, the director general for political and international affairs at Iran’s foreign ministry, and Stephen Clement, who is an aide to the European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
On Wednesday, the parties held eight hours of talks to discuss the differences as well as the plans proposed in the meeting of political directors.
The significant gaps in the talks appear to be the size and scope of Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity, the way of removing anti-Iran sanctions and duration of a final agreement.
Last week, top diplomats from Iran, the US, and the EU held trilateral meetings in Vienna to iron out differences and secure an agreement between Tehran and the G5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) in a bid to put an end to the West’s 12-year-old standoff on Tehran’s nuclear case.
On November 24, 2013, the two sides signed an interim nuclear deal in the Swiss city of Geneva.
Based on the interim deal, the world powers agreed to suspend some non-essential sanctions and impose no new nuclear-related bans in return for Tehran’s decision to freeze parts of its nuclear activities.
In July, Tehran and the six countries agreed to extend negotiations until November 24 in the hope of clinching a final deal.
