Iran Nuclear Talks Extended for A Week
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran and six world powers decided to continue diplomatic negotiations in Vienna for an extra week to nail down details of a final agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program, extending a deadline that expired on Tuesday night.
The week-long extension came after days of tight diplomatic meetings at Vienna’s Palais Coburg hotel with the purpose of finalizing the text of a long-awaited nuclear deal between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
Tuesday was the official deadline to reach the lasting deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the sides had agreed to extend the preliminary agreement "until July 7 to allow more time for negotiations to reach a long-term solution".
On Tuesday, Iran’s lead negotiator and foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, held separate meetings with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Germany’s Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano.
On April 2, Iran and the six nations had reached a framework nuclear agreement in Lausanne, Switzerland, that provides outlines of the final agreement.
