Iran: Extension of Nuclear Talks Not on Agenda
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Neither of the parties engaged in negotiations over Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program are interested in the extension of talks beyond a deadline of November 24, a top Iranian nuclear negotiator announced on Sunday.
In a strong hint that an extension was not under consideration in the course of nuclear talks between Tehran and six world powers, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said all sides are determined to clinch a deal as a November 24 looms.
“None of the negotiating parties are willing to extend the talks. All are resolved to reach an agreement before the deadline, so that extension is not on the agenda of any of the parties,” the senior negotiator told reporters in Tehran on Sunday.
Araqchi also announced that experts representing Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) are slated to hold a meeting in the Austrian capital of Vienna on coming Wednesday and Thursday.
The date for the next round of negotiations will also be decided on soon, he added.
Earlier this week, top diplomats from Iran, the US, and the EU held trilateral meetings in Vienna to iron out differences and secure an agreement between Tehran and the G5+1 (alternatively known as the P5+1 or E3+3) in a bid to put an end to the West’s 12-year-old standoff on Tehran’s nuclear case.
On November 24, 2013, Iran and the G5+1 signed an interim nuclear deal in the Swiss city of Geneva.
Based on the interim deal, the world powers agreed to suspend some non-essential sanctions and impose no new nuclear-related bans in return for Tehran’s decision to freeze parts of its nuclear activities.
In July, Tehran and the six countries agreed to extend negotiations until November 24 in the hope of clinching a final deal.