Iran, P5+1 hold key nuclear talks in Lausanne

Senior representatives from Iran and the P5+1 group have held another round of talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne to bridge the gaps in the negotiations aimed at reaching a final deal over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday sat down with his four counterparts from the P5+1 countries in the absence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who left Lausanne on Monday.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov is leading the Russian delegation in the talks.

The meeting between Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond was aimed at finding solutions to the outstanding issues and reaching a mutual understanding as an an end-of-March deadline looms.

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini was also present in the meeting.

Following the ministerial meeting, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi and Iranian deputy foreign ministers Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takht-e Ravanchi held talks with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.

Araqchi and Sherman later held a meeting. Iran and the P5+1 reconvened after the bilateral with their deputies and Mogherini in attendance.

Russia hopes for 'positive surprise'

Following the Tuesday morning talks, Ryabkov said Iran and the P5+1 countries held "intense" negotiations.

Ryabkov told Press TV that he could not comment on the draft of a nuclear agreement between Iran and the six countries as there are "different ideas."

“I hope you will be positively surprised,” the Russian official added. He also confirmed that the Russian foreign minister will come to Lausanne early in the afternoon. Lavrov's spokesman had said on Monday that the foreign minister will only return if there is a "realistic" chance of reaching a mutual understanding.

On Monday, foreign ministers of Iran and the P5+1 countries held crunch talks as they were grappling with the remaining issues blocking the final deal.

The United States and European countries reportedly want the UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on Iran to be automatically reversible, meaning that they want the possibility to be maintained to automatically re-impose the UNSC bans on Iran if there is any violation of the deal by Tehran.

However, Russia and China oppose such a scenario, saying no automatic introduction of sanctions must occur under these circumstances and that the UN Security Council must consider such a situation and make a decision.

The final stage of the ongoing talks between Iran and the P5+1 countries - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany - in Lausanne is expected to continue until Tuesday, which has been set as a deadline for reaching mutual understanding in the negotiations.

Iranian nuclear negotiator Hamid Ba'idinejad said late on Monday that all the negotiating sides are making serious efforts to find solutions to the outstanding issues, stressing there is no talk about the extension of the negotiations.

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