Tehran, World Powers to Draft Final Nuclear Deal in May: US Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A US official announced that Iran and the six world powers will start drafting a final nuclear agreement next month.
The political directors from Tehran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) are to hold talks in Vienna on April 7-9.
The sides were making progress in talks, the US official said on condition of anonymity, Fox News reported.
He also said that the goal remains to seal a final deal before July 20, without the need for a six-month extension.
The official said much of the work remaining was technical in nature, but emphasized that nothing had yet been agreed.
Meanwhile, experts representing Iran and the Group 5+1 (also known as P5+1 or E3+3) have already held meetings on Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program in Vienna, one of the four headquarters of the United Nations. The talks kicked off on Thursday evening.
Iran and its negotiating partners wrapped up their latest round of high-level nuclear talks in Vienna on March 19.
The whole talks are aimed at resolving the West’s decade-long standoff over Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities.
On November 24, 2013, Tehran and the six powers clinched a landmark interim deal in the Swiss city of Geneva.
Based on the Geneva interim deal (the Joint Plan of Action), the world powers agreed to suspend some non-essential sanctions and to impose no new nuclear-related bans in return for Tehran's decision to suspend its 20% enrichment for a period of six months.
The breakthrough deal, which has come into effect since January 20, also 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.