Iran’s Zarif, US’s Kerry to Meet in New York
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry plan to meet in New York later today to discuss a deal on Tehran’s nuclear energy program.
Earlier media reports quoted a senior US State Department official as saying that Zarif, who is also Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, and Kerry will meet on Monday, the first time since the groundbreaking talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne earlier in the month.
The Iranian top diplomat is also scheduled to hold separate meetings with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and some foreign ministers of the group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council plus Germany) during the trip.
Reports said that Iran and the G5+1 (also known as P5+1 or E3+3) will also hold deputy and expert-level talks over Tehran’s nuclear work on the sidelines of the event.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) are in talks to hammer out a lasting accord that would end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran's peaceful nuclear program.
On April 2, the two sides reached a framework nuclear agreement after more than a week of intensive negotiations in Lausanne, Switzerland, with both sides committed to push for a final deal until the end of June.
They also held a three-day round of talks in Vienna on April 22-24 and started drafting the text of the long-awaited agreement.
