Iran’s Zarif: Differences Remain, Tight Schedule Ahead
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s foreign minister and top negotiator said there still remain multiple sticking points in nuclear talks with world powers, adding that diplomats are going to work hard the next four weeks to explore the possibility of a final deal on Iran’s nuclear program.
Speaking to reporters after a one-day meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva on Saturday, Mohammad Javad Zarif said the nuclear talks still include differences between the negotiating parties, both technical and political difference.
“We decided to work full-time during the next three or four weeks to see whether it is possible to reach an agreement or not,” Zarif added.
He also reminded the negotiators to remain committed to the solutions that were reached in Lausanne in April, calling on them to refrain from making “excessive demands” or raising “irrelevant issues” in order to finish the job of drafting the text of the deal.
The next round of nuclear negotiations will be held in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on Thursday, June 4.
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 civilian nuclear program.
On April 2, the two sides reached a framework nuclear agreement in Lausanne, Switzerland, with both sides committed to push for a final deal until the end of June.
