VIENNA, May 14. /ITAR-TASS/. A group of six international mediators (The P5+1 Group) and a delegation from Iran, which on Wednesday begin another round of the so-called Vienna talks on the Iranian nuclear program, will have three more rounds of negotiations on the issue before July 20, a source in the Iranian delegation said.

“There are three more rounds of talks scheduled besides the current one,” the source said. “Two (rounds) are scheduled for June, while the talks in July could last up to 20 days if necessary.”

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.

Iran’s top diplomat has said Tehran does not intend to discuss national defence issues with the Sextet (five UN Security Council permanent members and Germany).

“As a whole we hope that progress will be achieved at the talks,” Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Wednesday.

He considered the meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton “constructive”.

“The participants seek to move forward. Iran has political will,” Zarif said.

“We are currently at the very sensitive stage (of the talks). Complicated issues remain to be resolved and contradictions are still on the table. However, with the political will displayed by all of the participants (in the talks), all complications can be resolved,” the source in the Iranian delegation added.

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.

"We are confident that the leadership in Tehran and the entire delegation have available instructions conducive to headway," the diplomat said before the current round of the talks.

 

The first step to agreement

The interim deal on the Iranian nuclear issue, 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.