Iran delegates in Switzerland for nuclear talks with US

Iran and the United States are set to begin a new round of nuclear talks in an effort to bridge their differences and facilitate a comprehensive accord between Tehran and the P5+1 states ahead of a July 1 deadline.

Heading the Iranian nuclear team, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Sunday for fresh nuclear talks with the American delegation, led by US Secretary of State John Kerry later in the day.

Deputy foreign ministers of Iran and the US as well as the European Union deputy foreign policy chief, Helga Schmid, are slated to attend the discussions.

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi and US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will also be among the participants in the Lausanne negotiations. 

Salehi and Moniz will hold talks later on Sunday. Araqchi and Spokesman for the AEOI Behrouz Kamalvandi will also be present in the talks.

Speaking to reporters before arriving in Switzerland, Zarif said technical issues related to Iran’s nuclear program as well as the mechanism for removing the sanctions against the Islamic Republic will be on the agenda of talks.

He also said that technical experts from the P5+1 group will attend the nuclear negotiations on Tuesday.

Following the talks, Zarif will leave for Brussels, Belgium, on Monday, where he will discuss Iran’s nuclear file with his German, French and UK counterparts, namely Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Laurent Fabius and Philip Hammond.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will host the Brussels talks “as part of the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran,” her office said in a statement last week.

On March 4, Zarif and Kerry wrapped up intense nuclear negotiations in the Swiss city of Montreux. Salehi and Moniz also attended the talks.

Representatives of Iran and the United States had also held three rounds of intense negotiations in the Swiss city of Geneva on February 22-23.

On the eve of the Lausanne talks, Kerry expressed hope that Iran and the six world powers would agree on the outlines of a nuclear deal in the coming days.

“We believe very much that there’s not anything that’s going to change in April or May or June that suggests that at that time a decision you can’t make now will be made then,” Kerry told CBS television.

“My hope is that in the next days that will be possible,” he added during the interview recorded in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Iran and the P5+1 countries – Britain, France, China, the United States and Russia plus Germany – are seeking to seal a comprehensive nuclear deal by July 1.The two sides have already missed two self-imposed deadlines for inking a final agreement since they signed an interim one in the Swiss city of Geneva in November 2013.

 ‘One-stage’ nuclear deal

In an interview with Fars new agency on Saturday, senior Iranian nuclear negotiator Seyyed Abbas Araqchi reiterated that the country seeks to sign a single-stage nuclear deal with the six world powers.

“If we could reach understanding, we will have enough time till July 1 to finalize it (an agreement) and it will definitely be done in one stage,” said Araqchi, who is the Iranian deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs.

Araqchi further ruled out another extension of the nuclear talks, saying the United Nations Security Council would endorse any final nuclear agreement between Tehran and the P5+1 group.

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