Iran, Sextet Kick Off Nuclear Talks in Vienna
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany officially opened the 6th round of nuclear negotiations in the Austrian capital city of Vienna on Thursday.
The European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton’s Spokesperson Michael Mann announced that the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program kicked off on Thursday morning.
On Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister and the chief nuclear negotiator Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Vienna, heading a high-profile delegation. Zarif attended a trilateral meeting with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and the US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns. Issues related to the nuclear negotiations were discussed in the meeting that took nearly one hour.
Iran and the six world powers are scheduled to hold this round of nuclear negotiations until July 20 which is the deadline earlier set for an interim deal agreed last December in Geneva.
Earlier top Iranian nuclear negotiator Majid Takht Ravanchi had said that Iran and the sextet would decide how to press ahead with the talks if they failed to reach an agreement during the 20-day period. He mentioned that the two sides may extend time of talks for another specific period.
Iran has times and again emphasized that a deal to end an “unnecessary crisis” over Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities is possible only if the sextet respects Iranian nation’s rights.