Iran’s Diplomat: No Need Yet for Presence of FMs in Nuclear Talks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A top Iranian negotiator said the latest round of talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, underway in Switzerland, has not still reached a stage to make it necessary for the foreign ministers of other negotiating sides to join their Iranian and American counterparts in Lausanne.
“Negotiations have made good progress so far, but still much remains to be done,” Abbas Araqchi told al-Alam Arabic language news network in the Swiss city on Thursday.
Araqchi also noted that the focus had better be on the negotiations alone, not on the deadlines.
With the Iranian new year holiday of Nowruz approaching, diplomats from Iran and six world powers have launched a decisive round of diplomacy in Lausanne since Sunday to pave the way for a landmark nuclear agreement between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) ahead of a June 30 deadline.
The talks were initially expected to end on Friday, before the start of the new Iranian year, but unconfirmed reports suggest they could continue until Sunday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry have met several times over the past four days in an effort to bridge the gaps ahead of the deadline for a final accord.
