Iran, P5+1 hold plenary nuclear meeting in Lausanne

Representatives of Iran and the P5+1 prepare for nuclear talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne, March 30, 2015.

Top representatives from Iran and the P5+1 group have held a plenary meeting in the Swiss city of Lausanne to narrow their differences in negotiations aimed at reaching a final deal over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sat down with US Secretary of State John Kerry, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier walking past US Secretary of State John Kerry (front, L), British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond (front center), Lausanne, Switzerland, March 30, 2015.

The meeting was held in an attempt to bridge differences on the outstanding issues surrounding Iran’s civilian nuclear activities.

Russia against reversible UN sanctions

Meanwhile, Maria Zakharova, the deputy spokesperson for the Russian ministry of foreign affairs, said Lavrov would leave Lausanne today and return if necessary tomorrow night. She added that Russia wants any possible agreement not to be in violation of the UN Security Council mechanisms.

This comes as sources say that the US and Europe want UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions to be automatically reversible, meaning that if Iran violates the deal at any point, the UNSC sanctions will automatically be re-imposed on Tehran.

Russia opposes such a scenario, saying in such a case the UNSC should decide what to do. Moscow says automatic imposition of sanctions goes against the mechanism of the UNSC.

China also reportedly shares Russia's viewpoint and is against the imposition of automatically reversible sanctions on Iran.

Crunch talks

Senior Iranian nuclear negotiator Seyyed Abbas Araqchi told Press TV late on Sunday that the talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China – plus Germany, are “in a very critical situation.”

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi (© AFP)

“We are in the last stage of negotiations, we are in a very critical situation,” Araqchi said.

The senior Iranian diplomat denied reports that a tentative agreement had been reached between the two sides, but said good progress had been made during the new round of talks, which kicked off in Lausanne on March 26.

“There are many items on the table. For many of them we have already found solutions. We are trying to close the list and find solutions on each and every item,” Araqchi said, adding, “Getting to an accord is doable. Solutions have been found for numerous questions. We are still working on two or three issues.”

On Sunday, Zarif held separate bilateral talks with his Chinese, German, British and Russian counterparts over the outstanding issues between the parties to the negotiations.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (L) speaks with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif at the opening of a bilateral meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, March 28, 2015. (© AFP)

The final stage of the talks in Lausanne is expected to continue until Tuesday, March 31, which was set as a deadline for reaching mutual understanding in the Iran-P5+1 negotiations.

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