Iran-Sextet N. Talks in Progress, Deputies Hold Second Session on Tuesday
VIENNA (Tasnim) – As Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) kicked off a fresh round of nuclear talks in the Austrian capital on Tuesday, deputies from the negotiating parties have started their second consecutive session minutes ago.
Deputies foreign minister representing Iran and the six major world powers (also known as the E3+3 or P5+1) started another meeting as part of fresh round of talks on Tehran’s nuclear program here in Vienna, followed by an earlier session in the morning.
The ongoing meeting is chaired by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi and European Union Deputy Secretary General for the External Action Service Helga Maria Schmid.
Earlier in the morning, the parties held a plenary session, which was presided over by Iran’s top negotiator and foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, as well as European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who liaises with Iran on behalf of the six countries.
Afterwards, the deputies held two successive meetings, the second of which is now underway.
Speaking in a press conference after the plenary session in the morning, Michael Mann, Ashton’s spokesman, said the parties are “involved in very detailed and substantial negotiations”.
In the fresh round of talks, the two sides will exchange views on the whole remaining issues from the previous rounds in order to narrow differences.
According to diplomats, it will be the “final stage” in discussing the topics and issues on the ground, as the negotiators will gear up to draft a final, comprehensive deal on Tehran’s nuclear program in May.
The two sides have already held several rounds of talks with the aim of putting an end to the decade-long standoff on the Islamic Republic’s peaceful nuclear case.
