Nuclear Talks Enter 5th Day
VIENNA (Tasnim) – Final round of Marathon talks between Iran and major world powers aimed at securing a comprehensive deal on Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program entered the fifth day with Iran’s foreign minister holding a meeting with his counterpart from Austria, which hosts the negotiations.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Austrian Minister for European and International Affairs Sebastian Kurz held a meeting in Vienna on Saturday morning.
The meeting comes only days before a looming deadline of November 24, set by Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) to break a deadlock in the nuclear talks and secure a lasting deal.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister and senior negotiator, Seyed Abbas Araqchi, is also planned to sit down with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Ryabkov, later on Saturday.
In the meantime, a source close to the Iranian delegation told AFP the negotiators aimed for something short of a comprehensive nuclear agreement.
"Everybody is trying to find an agreement on a general framework so that we can work and fine-tune the details," the source said.
"There is no other scenario possible at this stage. Then we can give ourselves some time," the source added.
With the talks entering their fifth day, media reports suggest that German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and a Chinese delegation will also join the talks on Saturday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is also expected to arrive in Vienna on Sunday.
The talks are aimed at signing a long-awaited deal, meant to end years of Western standoff over Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program.
