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Iran says differences in nuclear talks still remain: negotiator

Xinhua, May 31, 2015 Adjust font size:

Some enduring differences between Iran and the West over the nuclear program of the country have hindered the progress in preparing the draft for a possible nuclear agreement, Iran's senior nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said in Geneva on Saturday.

On Saturday meeting, all the issues were reviewed, but the differences still remain, Araqchi was quoted by state IRNA news agency.

He made the remarks following two rounds of meetings between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad-Javad Zarif in Geneva.

Earlier in the day, Araqchi said that one of the subjects in the talks between Kerry and Zarif would be the details and implementation of the additional protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a major step to a nuclear agreement ahead of self-imposed June 30 deadline.

Iran has emphasized that it would not allow IAEA inspectors to have access to its military sites under the additional protocol to the NPT subject to a nuclear deal.

Iran and world powers resumed a new round of negotiations on Wednesday in a bid to finalize an accord on Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

Next round of nuclear talks between the representatives of Iran and the P5+1 countries -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany -- will be held on Thursday in Vienna, Araqchi said on Saturday.

The late June deadline was agreed by the negotiators in November 2014 after a failed attempt to reach a comprehensive nuclear deal as the parties saw huge divide in limiting Iran's uranium enrichment capacity and the steps to lift sanctions that are crippling the Iranian economy. Endit