Iran nuclear talks set for next week in Vienna: Iranian Foreign Ministry
DUBAI - Reuters
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani prepares to depart after the end of a press conference on the sidelines of the 69th United Nations General Assembly in New York Sept. 23. REUTERS Photo
Iran and the major powers are set to hold multilateral and bilateral nuclear talks in the coming days in Vienna, Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Oct. 8.The discussions, between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany, are aimed at settling a more than decade long dispute over Tehran's nuclear work.
"I think that we will have bilateral and multilateral talks before the end of the next week in Vienna," ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said when asked when Iran and its negotiating partners, a grouping known as the P5+1, would next meet.
Afkham, speaking at a news conference carried live on state television, did not say how long the talks would last but said without elaborating that there had been slow progress so far.
Senior Iranian officials have said that Iran was likely to hold bilateral talks with the United States in Vienna and then hold a full session with the six world powers in November. They have given no dates for the talks.
Iran rejects Western allegations that it is seeking nuclear weapons capability. It says its nuclear program is aimed solely at peaceful purposes.
The two sides missed a self-imposed July 20 deadline for a comprehensive nuclear deal, making the new deadline Nov. 24.
There was no immediate comment from the office of European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who coordinates talks with Iran on behalf of the six world powers.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that there was "consensus between Iran and P5+1 on fundamental issues and differences are over fine details", the official IRNA news agency reported late on Oct. 7
"There's no dispute over whether reactors should be built in Arak or if Iran should enjoy enrichment technology or about Fordow or the end of so-called (nuclear) military activities. Differences are mainly over details and quantities," he said.
Iran has refused to close down an underground uranium enrichment plant at Fordow and a planned heavy-water reactor at Arak with the potential to yield plutonium.
