LAUSANNE, March 17. /TASS/. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have resumed talks on Tehran’s nuclear program on Tuesday in Switzerland’s Lausanne.
Their last meeting was held on Monday and lasted for five hours. After talks with Kerry, Zarif paid a brief visit to Brussels, where he met with diplomats from UK, France and Germany. The meeting in Brussels did not lead to any breakthroughs. The sides, however, noted "the positive nature of discussion" and importance of continuing negotiating disputable issues.
Monday’s talks showed that several disagreements remain on Iran’s nuclear program, though some progress was made on other issues, a sources in the Iranian delegation told TASS. "Compromises are offered on all disputable issues, including on sanctions," he said. The current round of talks will last at least until Friday, so there is still time for striking a deal, the source said.
Lifting sanctions not on agenda
UN Security Council (SC) has not yet started discussing a possible resolution on lifting international sanctions from Iran, diplomats from SC member countries told TASS on March 13.
The possibility of lifting sanctions from Iran is considered in case an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program is reached. "No discussions are held in New York [UN headquarters] now on this issue," a diplomat from one of Western countries said. "At the moment, the possibility of adopting such a resolution was only discussed in the framework of P5+1 group [US, UK, Russia, France, China and Germany]," he said. Another diplomat noted that "in principal" the talks are already held on possibility of lifting sanctions from Iran, but not on the level of UN Security Council.
A diplomat from a third country said that "at some point" the issue of lifting sanctions "will definitely be raised at the UN Security Council." After UN and Tehran reach an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, a resolution to support this agreement will be adopted, the diplomat said.