More Time Needed despite Good Progress in Nuclear Talks: Iran's Negotiator
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – There has been good progress in nuclear talks between Tehran and world powers but more time is still needed, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi said.
Referring to the upcoming deadline on July 20, Araqchi, also a senior Iranian negotiator, added that the two sides have decided to continue the talks for some time, “which requires that the first step of the Geneva Deal also extend”.
Since July 2, delegates from Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) have been in talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna to iron out their differences and achieve a final deal that would end the decade-old dispute over Iran’s nuclear energy program.
The deal was supposed to expire on July 20, but the two sides seem to have come to an agreement about the extension of the negotiations until November 24, 2014.
Diplomats told AP that Iran and the world powers have decided to extend the talks beyond the original deadline that falls this Sunday.
Also, the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS on Thursday quoted a diplomatic source as saying that Tehran and the sextet have taken a decision to extend talks for working out a comprehensive agreement.
"The concrete date will not be established. The parties realize that the agreement should be worked out till November 24," the source added.
The two sides sealed an interim deal in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 23, 2013.
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.