Agreement Made on Bulk of Final Iran N. Deal's Text: Negotiator
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A top Iranian negotiator said agreement has been reached in the diplomatic talks on a considerable part of the text of a comprehensive nuclear deal, but did not rule out differences on some remaining issues.
Diplomats and experts from Iran, the European Union and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) have once again gathered in the Austrian capital of Vienna to resume the job of drafting the text of a lasting nuclear accord on Tehran's civilian nuclear program.
Speaking to reporters in Vienna's airport on Monday night, Iran's deputy foreign minister and senior negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, said the parties are working hard to reach a finalized text in compliance with the solutions already reached in Lausanne.
On April 2, the two sides reached a framework nuclear agreement in Lausanne, Switzerland, with both sides committed to push for a final deal until the end of June.
Asked about the level of progress in the drafting of the final deal, Araqchi noted, "We now have a text a considerable part of which has been agreed upon, even on the whole phrases, but there are still differences on one part of it."
Some paragraphs contain a single phrase which has to be debated, while some others might include a sentence about which there are opposing views, he explained.
Meanwhile, Araqchi expressed optimism about achieving the comprehensive agreement before the end of June deadline.
According to Araqchi, the European Union's deputy secretary general for the external action service Helga Maria Schmid negotiates with the Iranian team in Vienna on behalf of the six powers, whose experts will attend the sessions to keep their countries posted on the talks.
Deputy foreign ministers of the other parties will join the negotiations on Friday, and a plenary session will be held afterwards, he explained.
He also unveiled plans for separate bilateral meetings with the US and Chinese delegations on Thursday.
Iran and the sextet are in talks to hammer out a lasting accord that would end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran's peaceful nuclear program.
