NEW YORK, September 17. /ITAR-TASS/. Moscow is not completely confident that Iran and six world powers can work out an agreement by November 24, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday.

He said, however, that there was no pessimism and the sides had to continue working.

“The previous round brought no tangible progress or breakthrough,” he said upon arrival in the United States. “What makes us feel optimistic is that we know the list of issues, there are not so many of them, and can more or less say which of them will be in the centre of discussion, not to say struggle.”

“But as a counterbalance to that, there is no confidence that concrete compromises can be reached during this round beginning on the 19th [of September]. I mean there is no certainty as to whether the ministers of the six world powers and Iran will meet or not,” the diplomat said.

Russia ready to work with US and EU towards result in Iran talks

Despite sanctions, Russia is ready to work with the United States and the European Union towards the result at the talks between Iran the six world powers in New York, Sergei Ryabkov said.

“The pressure of sanctions the U.S. and the EU are trying to put on us affects the overall atmosphere of our relations with Washington and the European Union. This is indisputable and this cannot help the dialogue and interaction,” the diplomat said.

But “there are no deviations from the chartered course”, he added.

“We will continue working towards the result,” Ryabkov said.

Sergei Ryabkov has noted that Iran is preparing for the next round of talks with the P5+1 (five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany) most seriously.

“The recent contacts, including bilateral ones, with the Iranians were quite promising and showed that the Iranian delegation is preparing for the upcoming round most fundamentally,” Ryabkov said, adding that the six world powers were preparing as well.

The next round of talks is to be held in New York on September 19. It will be preceded by a coordination meeting where the Russian delegation will “continue to work with its partners in order lay the groundwork for compromises”.