Nuclear Deal Not Certain on Monday, Tuesday: Iranian Negotiator
VIENNA (Tasnim) – Abbas Arqchi, a senior member of the Iranian team of negotiators in nuclear talks with world powers, played down expectations that the remaining sticking points in the talks would be resolved on Monday or even Tuesday night.
"I would not promise that the (outstanding) issues will be settled tonight or tomorrow night," Araqchi told reporters in Vienna on Monday.
"The negotiations have reached the final breathtaking moments. There still remain problems," he stated, adding that one cannot say the two sides have reached an agreement unless those problems are resolved.
"We hope to achieve results, God willing, if we manage to conclude the problems and lead all the issues to a point that would be agreed by both sides," Araqchi said.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) have been negotiating hard in Vienna over the past two weeks to nail down a historic deal on Tehran's nuclear energy program.
They have given themselves until Monday to reach the long-awaited accord. An initial self-imposed deadline of June 30 for the final accord has been extended three times in the past two weeks.