Iran Nuclear Talks at Crucial Stage: EU's Mogherini
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said the nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers have entered a crucial stage.
"We are entering a crucial time, a crucial two weeks where negotiations will have to find the common ground for a good deal," Reuters quoted Mogherini as saying on Monday.
Later today, the EU foreign policy chief will host a meeting of foreign ministers of Iran, Britain, France and Germany in Brussels.
The top Iranian diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, will arrive in Belgium from the Swiss city of Lausanne, where Iranian and American delegations have launched a decisive round of diplomacy to narrow down differences in the course of reaching a comprehensive nuclear deal.
According to the EU, Mogherini will meet bilaterally with Zarif at 17:15 local time, ahead of the planned meeting with other ministers.
Speaking to reporters on board a flight to Switzerland on Sunday, Zarif said Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) are "very close to the solutions."
The top Iranian negotiator also noted that a final deal is "certainly within reach" in the new round of talks if the other side has the necessary political will.
In relevant comments on Saturday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said, "My hope is that in the next days that (a deal) will be possible."
After failing to hammer out a lasting accord by a self-imposed November 24 deadline in 2014, Iran and the Group 5+1 (also known as P5+1 or E3+3) decided to extend the deadline for seven more months, until the end of June 2015.
The talks are aimed at reaching a comprehensive agreement to end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran's peaceful nuclear program.