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Iran holds "constructive" talks with West over sanctions: Iranian negotiator

Xinhua, April 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

The representatives of Iran and the West held "constructive" talks over the topic of sanctions in their latest round of meeting in the Austrian capital Vienna, senior Iranian nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi was quoted as saying by state IRIB TV on Saturday.

"We had good discussions, particularly with the U.S. delegation, and asked them to clarify their stance on the sanctions," Araqchi said.

"We asked them to give explanations of what is happening in the U.S. congress over the lift of sanctions against Iran in a possible nuclear deal," he said, adding that "I think the explanations of the U.S. delegation were very helpful."

Iranian officials have urged for the removal of economic and financial sanctions against Iran simultaneously with the implementation of a possible nuclear deal. However, the West and particularly some U.S.congressmen have insisted on the gradual removal of sanctions.

Earlier, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani rejected the U.S. congress' voice on nuclear deal, saying that the negotiating partner of Iran in the nuclear talks is not the U.S. congress, which has no say in the potential nuclear deal.

Iran's negotiating partners in the nuclear talks are the world powers, not the U.S. Senate or the House of Representative, Rouhani said.

The work on the draft of a joint comprehensive action plan started over the past days, and despite its slow pace there was some progress, Araqchi told IRIB.

Another important subject for Iran is to curb the possibility of any violation of commitments in a deal by either sides, Araqchi said, stressing that there should be mechanisms to deal with the issue in case such an infraction happens.

The work on the draft will be continued on the sidelines of the upcoming 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) at the United Nations headquarters in New York, he said.

A three-day experts meeting of Iran and the world powers was concluded on Friday in Vienna aiming to work on the technical details necessary to finalize a comprehensive deal by June 30 deadline.

On April 2, representatives from Iran and the P5+1 group -- including the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China plus Germany -- reached common solutions to outstanding issues in a run for a comprehensive deal by the end of June. Endit