Update: Iran not to seal "vague, imperfect" deals: FM

Iran will not put its signature on agreements which are "ambiguous and imperfect," Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif told state IRIB TV on Sunday.

"No accord will be sealed unless a comprehensive agreement is reached," Zarif said in Geneva as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to join the ongoing bilateral talks on Sunday and Monday over Tehran's long-disputed nuclear program.

"Petit, fragmentary and temporary agreements are neither in favor of our country nor the other party," Zarif was quoted as saying.

Agreements on general terms leave it open for myriad of interpretations, hence concerns for all sides involved in the talks, the Iranian minister said, adding that whenever the gaps are narrowed down over the details, the final draft would be prepared and "this the policy we are following."

Good discussions have been underway over the past days in Geneva, but no agreements have reached so far since some differences still endure, particularly over the removal of sanctions against the country, he said.

The nuclear program of Iran is "totally peaceful" and the Islamic republic will not bow under the sanction pressures, Zarif stressed.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has expressed concerns over the two-phased arrangement earlier this month, saying a framework agreement may be abused by Iran's opponents as bargaining chips over details in the final deal.

Iran is suffering from rounds of sanctions as the West has long accused the country of seeking to develop nuclear weapons under civilian programs, while Tehran has always refuted such allegations.

It has been over a year since Iran and the world powers agreed to come back to the negotiating table for the nuclear problems in 2013. However, wide differences have kept all talking sides from arriving at a final deal.

The negotiators agreed in November 2014 to extend the deadline for another seven months, and aimed to reach a political framework deal by the end of March.

U.S. and Iranian officials headed into a new round of talks in Geneva on Friday to resume their efforts to end the 12-year standoff over the Iran's controversial nuclear program.

On Sunday, the negotiators of other world powers including China, Germany, France, Britain and Russia would join the bilateral Washington-Tehran talks.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday in London before heading to Geneva for two more days of talks that there are still "significant gaps" in the nuclear negotiations.

These wide gaps the top U.S. diplomat referred to are mainly related to Iran's uranium enrichment and the pace of removing sanctions.

Earlier, Kerry told his Iranian counterpart Zarif that the United States aimed "to move toward a political framework by the end of March."

In response, Iran's Supreme leader urged a single-stage "detailed" agreement, suggesting that an agreement on political framework cannot serve as a prerequisite for the continuation of talks.

Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear agency, said in a report that it has made no major progress in verifying outstanding issues related to Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program.

These issues are related to the alleged nuclear bomb research, the so-called "possible military dimensions," which Iran denies. Enditem