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US, Iranian foreign ministers hold bilateral meeting in Geneva

Xinhua, January 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif on Wednesday held a bilateral meeting in Geneva over Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

The U.S. State Department said earlier in a statement the bilateral meeting was being held to provide guidance to their negotiating teams before their next round of discussions begin on Jan. 15.

U.S. acting Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and the American negotiating team would meet on Jan. 15 to 17 with Iranian officials in the context of the P5+1 nuclear negotiation with Iran at the Swiss city.

Following the three-day meeting, talks at the political-director level are to be held on Jan. 18 between the Islamic republic and the P5+1 group of Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States plus Germany.

The new round of talks, to be chaired by EU Deputy Secretary General Helga Schmid, will be held "with a view to making further progress towards a long-term comprehensive solution on the nuclear issue," an earlier statement from the EU, the mediator for Iran nuclear discussions, said.

Talks between Iran and the world powers resumed on Dec. 17, 2014, just weeks after failing to meet a Nov. 24 deadline for a comprehensive nuclear deal due to significant gaps over Iran's uranium enrichment abilities and how the sanctions should be removed.

Tehran and the world powers have agreed to extend the negotiations to July this year. Endit