Iran FM Says Final Nuclear Deal within Reach
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran and six world powers can strike a historical deal on Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program until a July 20 deadline.
“We're able to make history by this time next Sunday,” Zarif said in a message in his Twitter account on Sunday, referring to a long-awaited nuclear deal that would end the decade-long standoff on Iran’s nuclear case.
“I won't engage in blame games or spin. Not my style. What I will engage in is a sincere effort to come to an agreement. I expect the same,” Iran's chief nuclear negotiator added.
The top Iranian diplomat then likened trust to a “two-way street”, and stressed, “Concerns of all sides must be addressed to reach a deal.”
The new round of talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany), which started in Vienna on July 2, is expected to run until July 20, when a six-month deal between the two sides expires.
Iran and the G5+1 (alternatively known as P5+1 or E3+3) on November 24, 2013, clinched an interim nuclear deal in the Swiss city of Geneva.
The breakthrough agreement (the Joint Plan of Action), which has come into effect since January 20, 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.