Iran, Sextet set to resume nuclear talks

The first phase of talks is expected to kick off Wednesday noon in the presence of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who leads the team from six world powers, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said.

Zarif, who leads the Iranian negotiating team, said the two sides will then continue talks bilaterally.

He said that bilateral and multilateral meetings are planned to be held prior to high-level meetings of the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

According to the top nuclear negotiator, political directors from both sides will also sit down for talks on Friday.

There will also be several meetings with think tanks in the coming days before Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrives in New York to attend the UN meeting, Zarif said.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain – plus Germany have been discussing ways to iron out their differences and start drafting a final deal that would end the West’s dispute with Iran over the country’s nuclear energy program.

Last November, Tehran and the six countries signed an interim deal in Geneva, which took effect on January 20 and expired six months later. In July, Iran and the six countries agreed to extend negotiations until November 24 this year after they failed to reach common ground on a number of key issues.
/SR