PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry, May 2015
Foreign Ministers from Iran, the US, and European countries will join nuclear talks in Vienna on Saturday, pursuing a comprehensive deal before a June 30 deadline.
US Secretary of State John Kerry set off for the Austrian capital on Friday night, while Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif left Tehran on Saturday morning.
Iranian “diplomatic sources close to the negotiations” said the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius are joining the talks.
There is no word yet on whether Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi will be in Vienna.
Writing on Twitter on Thursday, Zarif backed the Supreme Leader’s “red lines” for a settlement, set out in a Wednesday speech, while declaring his determination for an agreement:
As SL @khamenei_ir stressed,Iranians want a dignified deal and reject excessive demands.Going to Vienna to secure a fair & lasting #IranDeal
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) June 25, 2015
Political deputies of Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia) have been pursuing the final draft of an agreement for more than a week, in the 8th round of talks since an April 2 nuclear framework was agreed.
Key issues include the status of Iran’s nuclear facilities and stock of low-enriched uranium, inspections of nuclear and non-nuclear sites, and the timing of the removal of UN, European Union, and US sanctions.
On Thursday, the US said for the first time that it envisaged an extension of a “few days” to the June 30 deadline, if an agreement is imminent. Iran, France, and Britain had earlier signaled the possibility.
