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Zarif: Iran’s nuclear agreement with six major powers possible Tuesday

TEHRAN, July 14. /TASS/. An agreement with six major powers on the Iranian nuclear programme will be possibly made on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced in Vienna, Iran’s Press TV channel reported.

Negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue started in 2004, after Western nations have accused Tehran of developing a "secret military nuclear programme." Since 2006, negotiations with Iran have been conducted by the "sextet" of international mediators - five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany (P5+1). In 2006-2010, several packages of sanctions were introduced against Iran. In November 2013, an interim agreement was signed under which the sanctions were eased in return for Tehran’s obligation to halt uranium enrichment above 5%, and destroy stockpiles of nuclear materials enriched up to 20% In April 2015, significant progress was made at the P5+1 negotiations with Iran and the parties agreed on a joint comprehensive plan of action on the Iranian nuclear programme.

Initially, the final agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue was planned to be worked out and signed by June 30, 2015. The next deadline expired on July 13. By now, the foreign ministers of the six major powers have concluded a meeting in Vienna, which is called decisive by diplomats. Previously, a Western diplomatic source told TASS that the meeting focused on the last wording for a final deal with Iran.

A plenary meeting of the P5+1 foreign ministers and Iran will be opened in the Austrian capital on Tuesday morning to complete the comprehensive agreement which has been under negotiation for more than 20 months.

According to Reuters, a comprehensive meeting between Iran and the powers will be held at 08:00 GMT on Tuesday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and E.U.'s Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini are expected to read a joint statement. "Iran and the six powers will hold a comprehensive meeting at the UN headquarters in Vienna at 10:00am local time," Fars said.