Off the wire
• Indian Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi absent at Parliament opening session  • News Analysis: One year on, Ukraine remains prey to tug of war of big powers  • Hamas official warns Israel of attacks on Gaza  • U.S. stocks open lower after Greece deal  • Portugal's public debt higher than expected at end of 2014  • 1st LD Writethru: Oil company blast kills 2 in India  • EU mulls over 6-million-euro bid to help French road transport workers  • Urgent: UNSC kicks off open debate on maintaining int'l peace, security  • More than 1,700 houses damaged in Xinjiang earthquake  • 52 IS militants killed in clashes, airstrikes in Iraq  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD Writethru: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry continue talks with Iranian FM

Xinhua, February 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry continued talks with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad-Javad Zarif on Monday amid efforts to further narrow the remaining gaps for a solution to Tehran's long-disputed nuclear program.

According to Iranian state media Press TV, Iran's Foreign Minister Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State Kerry met for three hours at a hotel in Geneva on Monday after their two-and-a-half-hour-long talks on Sunday.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Iranian atomic energy head Ali Akbar Salehi, along with other senior officials from both sides, were also reportedly present at the talks.

Little details of the closed-door negotiations have been disclosed, while messages from both sides showed that the presence of Moniz and Salehi reflected that the current talks were very "technical".

But Kerry toned down the implications of Moniz's participation, having noted in London on Saturday before heading to Geneva that "I would not read into it any indication whatsoever that something is about to be decided as a result of that".

Kerry warned in London that "there are still significant gaps, there is still a distance to travel".

The U.S. top diplomat said that "U.S. President Barack Obama is fully prepared to stop these talks if he feels that they're not being met with the kind of productive decision making necessary to prove that a program is, in fact, peaceful".

In response, Iranian senior negotiator Abbas Araqchi told Iranian media that "If the other party wants to impose their wills at the cost of diplomatic means, we will not hesitate to leave the negotiating table."

Araqchi reportedly said that political pressures and the media hype have not forced Iran to change its position and give up its demand.

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. Enditem