The talks are underway in the Swiss city of Geneva as part of regular bilateral meetings between Iran and the members of the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) which are negotiating to settle a decade-long standoff on Tehran’s nuclear work.
The Iranian team is led by Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi, while the US Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman heads the American delegation.
The Iranian and American teams held a six-hour meeting on Thursday. There was also a meeting between the two sides’ technical experts which lasted three hours.
These nuclear talks come ahead of forthcoming meetings between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany). The two sides are expected to continue negotiations on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, due to be held in New York later this month.
On Tuesday, Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said the nuclear negotiations will “continue in New York as of September 18”.
Ashton’s spokesman also stated that senior diplomats from France, Britain and Germany would hold a separate round of talks with Iranians officials in Vienna on September 11.
Iran and the sextet are currently in talks to work out a lasting accord aimed at ending the longstanding dispute over Tehran’s civilian nuclear activities.
Last November, the two sides signed an interim deal in Geneva, which took effect on January 20 and expired six months later on July 20. In July, Tehran and the six countries agreed to extend negotiations until November 24 after they failed to reach common ground on a number of key issues.