Off the wire
• Standings of WCBA League  • Over 20,000 rally in Russia's Ingushetia against Prophet Muhammad cartoons  • Lock-up shares worth 71 bln yuan eligible for trade  • Roundup: Chinese FM's Africa visit strengthens ties, cooperation  • Two matches of Willem II manipulated by gambling syndicate  • World Heritage prehistoric cemetery to close temporarily: Heritage Malta  • Children, adult killed at Swedish railway crossing  • Security forces retake villages in western Iraq  • Results of WCBA League  • Team China shakes off pressure to focus on quarter-final stage  
You are here: 　 Home

Gaps still remain in nuclear talks: Iranian nuclear negotiator

Xinhua, January 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Wide gaps over some issues still remain between Iran and the world powers in the talks over the country's nuclear program, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister and the senior nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, said on Saturday.

"The atmosphere prevailing the (ongoing nuclear) negotiations is completely serious and the two sides are determined to reach an agreement, but there are problems, distances and different views," Araqchi was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

The distances are very wide over certain issues and in some other cases the gaps are very narrow, he said, adding that "we are trying to narrow down the distances between the two sides."

"We are still hopeful and think that if the other side shows the necessary determination and good will, reaching an agreement will be possible," Araqchi said in Geneva.

On Friday, Araqchi said that the path to reach a final comprehensive agreement on Tehran's nuclear program is still hard.

"Finding a solution is really a difficult and heavy task, but we hope that we could achieve a result in the remaining time to the deadline," Araqchi said after a meeting between the Iranian and U.S. negotiators in Geneva.

No one could say how far the talks between Iran and the P5+1 group, including Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States, have progressed so far, he was quoted as saying.

After intensive nuclear talks failed to meet the deadline for a comprehensive deal over Tehran's controversial nuclear program, the foreign ministers from the Islamic republic and the P5+1 group agreed in Nov. 2014 to extend the deadline for another seven months, in an attempt to secure the prospects of a deal.

The United States and Iranian negotiators on Thursday began their three-day talks on Tehran's nuclear program. The bilateral engagements would be immediately followed by talks between Iran and the six world powers.

Based on the interim Geneva deal or the so-called Joint Plan of Action which was sealed on Nov. 24, 2013, Tehran would suspend its nuclear program while the West would loosen economic sanctions. Endit