Off the wire
• Portugal's Socialist leader slams government for austerity program  • 2nd LD Writethru: Fresh round of Iran nuke talks to be held next week in Geneva: Report  • EU official calls for more efforts from member states to combat tax evasion  • Energy Union needs consumers to succeed, BEUC says  • Feature: Finland scores first success with crowd-sourced legislation  • Israel cuts power to Palestinian territories over unpaid debt  • Remittances from Portuguese emigrants in Angola halved in December  • Urgent: Strong earthquake rocks Spain  • Kenya pledges to strengthen maritime safety, security  • Zambia nabs 51 illegal immigrants  
You are here: 　 Home

3rd LD Writethru: Fresh round of Iran nuke talks to be held next week in Geneva: Report

Xinhua, February 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that the next round of nuclear talks between Iranian negotiators and representatives of the P5+1 group will be held on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva next week, according to Iranian state media Press TV.

Another Iranian official media IRNA, citing a member of Iranian negotiating team, reported that the exact date would be next Monday (March 2).

The scheduled fresh diplomatic efforts are preceded by the bilateral engagements between the U.S. and Iran that started from last Friday, and as well as Sunday talks between representatives from Iran and the P5+1 group, namely the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, as participating sides strive to narrow remaining gaps for a solution to the decade-long standoff over Tehran's controversial nuclear program.

Zarif told Iranian media on Monday in the Swiss city that during the past days, Iran had "serious, useful and constructive talks" with the participating sides, and "some progress" was made on certain issues, but "we have a long way ahead to reach a final agreement".

Meanwhile, the senior diplomat emphasized that "as long as an agreement is not reached on all issues, there will be no agreement on individual topics".

It has been over a year since Iran and the world major countries agreed to come back to the negotiating table for the Iranian nuclear program 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