Iran Nuclear Talks Go On in Vienna at Expert, Deputy Levels
VIENNA (Tasnim) – Experts and diplomats from Iran and six world powers resumed their meetings in the Austrian capital on Monday to proceed with drafting the text of a final deal on Tehran's nuclear energy program.
Separate meetings were held in Vienna today at the level of deputy foreign ministers and experts.
Since June 17, top Iranian negotiators and deputies to foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takht Ravanchi, have been in Vienna to finalize the text of a comprehensive nuclear deal.
The negotiations between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) climaxed on Saturday with the arrival of the two sides’ foreign ministers, seeking to hammer out the long-awaited deal before a self-imposed deadline of June 30.
Iran’s foreign minister and chief negotiator, Mohammad Javad Zarif, held separate meetings with his counterparts from the US, Britain, France and Germany and with European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Saturday and Sunday.
He left Vienna for Tehran on Sunday night, but will return on Tuesday.
Zarif said he had two days of political talks and provided the Iranian team with instructions on how to work on drafting the text of the deal, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Iran and the Group 5+1 (alternatively known as the P5+1 or E3+3) have been negotiating over the past 22 months to clinch a lasting nuclear deal.
On April 2, the two sides reached a framework nuclear agreement in Lausanne, Switzerland, with both committed to push for the final deal until the end of June.