Iran says negotiation agenda agreed in nuclear talks with powers

Friday, 21 February 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Iran and six world powers have agreed on an agenda for negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program and will meet again in the second half of March in Vienna, a senior Iranian official said after two days of talks in the Austrian capital. If confirmed, it would indicate an early step forward in the elusive search for a settlement of the decade-old dispute, even though the sides remain far apart on how to resolve it and both Iran and the United States have publicly stated it may not be possible to reach a final agreement. Negotiators from Iran and the powers - the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia - have been meeting since Tuesday in Vienna to hammer out an agenda for talks on a final deal to the standoff over Tehran’s atomic activities.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told the official IRNA news agency: “The involved parties have agreed on an agenda and a framework and the next round of talks will be in the second half of March in Vienna.” The semi-official Iranian news agency Fars said the next meeting would be held from March 17-20. A senior U.S. state department official earlier said about the second day of talks on Wednesday: “Today’s discussions, which covered both process and substance, were constructive and useful.” Officials from the six powers were not immediately available for comment on Araqchi’s statement to IRNA. His statement was also carried by Iran’s English-language Press TV state television on its web site. The meeting was due to resume on Thursday morning, expected to be followed by a news conference by European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton - who is coordinating the talks on behalf of the powers - and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The six powers want a long-term deal on the permissible scope of Iran’s nuclear work to lay to rest concerns that they could be put to developing atomic bombs. Tehran’s priority is a complete removal of damaging economic sanctions against it. The negotiations will probably extend at least over several months and could help defuse many years of hostility between energy-exporting Iran and the West, ease the danger of a new war in the Middle East, transform the regional power balance and open up major business opportunities for Western firms.