Zarif, Kerry open fifth day of nuclear talks in Lausanne

US Secretary of State John Kerry (3rd L), Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (3rd R) and others wait for a meeting at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel on March 29, 2015 in Lausanne.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry have held another meeting as the fifth day of a new round of talks over Tehran’s nuclear program kicks off in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The Sunday meeting between the top Iranian and US diplomats came as part of broader negotiations between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 countries aimed at clinching a final deal over Tehran’s nuclear program.

The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi; Iranian deputy foreign ministers Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takht-e Ravanchi; Hossein Fereydoon, the special aide to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani; US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman were also present in the talks.

Following his meeting with Kerry, Zarif sat down with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, who is slated to join the discussions in the Swiss city.

Meanwhile, Kerry also held a meeting with his German and French counterparts, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Laurent Fabius, as well as the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond are also expected to join the talks in Lausanne with separate talks scheduled between the two and Zarif on Sunday.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (L) gestures towards his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif (2nd L) and Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi (3rd L) as they take their seats at the opening of a bilateral nuclear meeting in Lausanne on March 28, 2015. © AFP

 

On Saturday, Zarif held separate talks with his German and French counterparts over the outstanding issues between the parties to the negotiations.

He described his talks with Steinmeier and Fabius as “very good” and said, “We discussed all the issues that need to be resolved.”

“I think we can in fact make the necessary progress to be able to resolve all the issues and write them down in a text that will become the final agreement. It depends on how long it will take to do that but we are prepared to work diligently in order to move forward and I think that there is every indication that we can in fact move forward,” Zarif said.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (2nd L), US Secretary of State John Kerry (C), French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) and others wait for the start of a trilateral meeting at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne on March 28, 2015. © AFP

 

Meanwhile, Kerry also held trilateral talks with Steinmeier and Fabius on Saturday.

Iran and the P5+1 countries - the US, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany - have been negotiating to reach a comprehensive deal on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. The two sides have set July 1 as the deadline for a final agreement.

AR/MKA/HMV


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