BRUSSELS, March 6. /TASS/. The European External Action Service (EEAS) on Thursday praised consultations of the six international negotiators on Iran’s nuclear program (P5+1, or E3/EU+3), held March 5 in Montreux, Switzerland.
"The E3/EU+3 Political Directors and Iran met on 5 March in Montreux for a one-day meeting in continuation of their ongoing diplomatic efforts to find a comprehensive solution to the Iranian nuclear issue," the EEAS said in a statement.
"The meeting was preceded by various bilateral meetings of members of the E3/EU+3 with Iran, with the participation of EU Political Director Helga Schmid, from 2nd to 4th March," it said.
"The meetings were constructive and useful. Some progress was made and a better understanding on some of the issues emerged," the statement said. "E3/EU+3 and Iran will continue to work on the remaining gaps and will meet again very soon."
A source in the Iranian delegation said the deadline for reaching an agreement between the P5+1 and Iran on Tehran’s nuclear program is the end of June, not end of March.
"We keep intensively working, there is progress, but it should be remembered that the deadline expires only in late June," he said.
The source said the next round of talks is due March 15-20. "It is not ruled out that if necessary, the talks may last more," he said.
At a meeting in Vienna in November 2014, the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and France plus Germany) and Tehran agreed to extend the deadline for an agreement in the talks on Iran’s nuclear program to June 30, 2015.
The agreement stipulated that by the end of March the sides planned to achieve a principled political decision regarding disputed issues.
Iran says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity, but Western powers led by the United States claim Tehran's eventual aim is to create nuclear weapons.