Next round of nuclear talks in Europe: Zarif

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the next round of Tehran’s nuclear talks with six world powers will be held in Europe.

“It will take place in Europe because New York is too far away,” ITAR-TASS news agency quoted Zarif as saying after a Saturday closed-door meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the 69th annual session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

He pointed to major differences between the two sides and underlined the need for the continuation of consultations.

Zarif reaffirmed Tehran’s determination to seize the existing opportunity till the expiration of Iran’s interim nuclear deal in November and noted that the existing issues are not too complicated to be resolved.

Iran and its negotiating partners -- the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany -- held their latest round of talks in New York to work out a final agreement aimed at ending the longstanding dispute over Tehran’s civilian nuclear energy program within a November 24 deadline.

Last November, the two sides clinched an interim nuclear accord, which took effect on January 20 and expired six months later. However, they agreed to extend their talks until November 24 as they remained split on a number of key issues.