VIENNA, April 08. /ITAR-TASS/. A group of six international mediators (The P5+1 Group) and a delegation from Iran will enter on Tuesday the third round of the so-called Vienna talks on the Iranian nuclear program.
The negotiations between the five permanent UN Security Council members (Russia, China, France, Britain and the United States) plus Germany with Iran are aimed to agree an action plan worked out jointly with six international negotiators to verify that Tehran is implementing its deal with the international community to restrict its nuclear program. Iran says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity, while Western powers led by the United States claim Iran’s eventual aim is to create nuclear weapons.
The third round of the talks on Tuesday will be once again chaired by Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, while the Iranian side is led at the talks by country’ Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who leads the Russian delegation at the talks on the Iranian nuclear issue, said earlier that the group of the international mediators and Iran had time and an opportunity to reach a comprehensive agreement on the debated issue by July 20. The high-ranking Russian diplomat said that “these spring months are crucial, but we still have time,” adding that participants in the Vienna talks hope to create the basis for further steps.
There are no special expectations,” he said. “It’s reasonable to talk of expectations if everything is ready and the finishing touches are yet to be made, but we are hardly halfway through.” He added that all the colleagues, including the Iranian delegation and P5+1 participants, are committed to making efforts so that the round be marked “by the creation of the basis for further steps.” “Nobody’s expectations are higher than that,” Ryabkov said.
The interim nuclear deal, inked on November 24, 2013, called for taking the first step of reciprocal actions to prove good faith in a six-month period to be followed by negotiations for a comprehensive agreement, according to which the Western governments will acknowledge the Iranian nuclear program as civilian.
The deal was called the first step to be followed by a comprehensive agreement, which, on the one hand, should resolve the international community’s concerns about the Iranian nuclear program and, on the other hand, remove economic sanctions that slow down Iran’s economic development. The agreement reached by and between Iran and the P5+1 Group in Geneva last year became effective as of January 20.