The chief diplomats of the United States and Iran met Wednesday in Geneva, starting a new round of talks on a complex deal to end the stand-off over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
According to Iranian media, Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif aim to work out an exact roadmap for the remainder of the talks, which Iran and six world powers including the US want to conclude by the end of June.
After the high level encounter on Wednesday, talks are to continue between senior US and Iranian negotiators until the weekend. Senior diplomats from Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany are to join the talks in Geneva on Sunday, making the six-power group complete.
The involved countries aim to come up with the outlines of a deal by March that would scale back Iran’s nuclear programme and diminish the risk that it can be used to make nuclear weapons. In return, international economic sanctions would be lifted.
As direct US-Iran talks have been a key element of the effort to reach a deal, the US administration has warned hard-line Washington lawmakers against pushing for new sanctions.
GNA
