GENEVA, January 20, 15:25 /ITAR-TASS/. Iran will not take part in a meeting of political directors of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany to be held in Geneva on January 21, a well-informed diplomatic source told Itar-Tass on Monday.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton is gathering political directors. Iran will not take part. This will be a brief meeting to coordinate further steps towards settling the Iranian issue, the source said.

Russia will be represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and the U.S. by Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman.

On January 20, the six countries and Iran started implementing the first stage of the Geneva agreement, which had been reached in Geneva in November 2013. The document, which is expected to be implemented within six months, will make it possible to resolve priority concerns of the six countries over Iran’s nuclear programme and reinforce global control over Tehran’s nuclear activities. The United States and the European Union took return steps by easing sanctions against Iran.