Mann: No Decision on Foreign Ministers' Presence in Vienna
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton’s Spokesperson Michael Mann said no decision has been made on asking the foreign ministers of the six world powers (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) to join talks over Iran’s nuclear program in Vienna.
“Catherine Ashton is considering asking foreign ministers to attend but no decision has been made,” Mann told AFP.
The announcement comes despite Tuesday’s report by the Chinese news agency Xinhua that some foreign ministers from the sextet were likely to join a decisive round of marathon talks on Iran’s nuclear program on coming Friday.
Delegates from Iran and the Group 5+1 (alternatively known as P5+1 or E3+3) have launched the 6th round of nuclear talks in the Austrian capital in a bid to hammer out a comprehensive deal on Tehran’s nuclear case.
This round of talks, coordinated by the European Union, started on July 2 and is expected to run until at least July 15.
The two sides have now less than two weeks to clinch a deal by their self-imposed deadline that expires on July 20.
In November 2013, Iran and the sextet clinched an interim nuclear deal in the Swiss city of Geneva.
The breakthrough agreement (the Joint Plan of Action), which has come into effect since January 20, stipulates that over the course of six months, Iran and the six countries will draw up a comprehensive nuclear deal which will lead to a lifting of the whole sanctions on Iran.
The speculation suggest that the main sticking points in the course of talks include limitations on Iran’s uranium enrichment activities, the fate of Arak-heavy water research reactor, the duration of any nuclear deal and the timetable for ending the sanctions.
