Iran nuclear talks advancing well: German FM

Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says negotiations between Tehran and the P5+1 group of countries on Iran’s nuclear program have been progressing “well.”

The talks between Iran and the six states – Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany --  are “advancing well,” Steinmeier said in an address to the United Nations-backed Conference on Disarmament in the Swiss city of Geneva on Tuesday.

Steinmeier further appreciated as unprecedented the efforts made over the past year to resolve the West’s standoff with Tehran over its nuclear file, saying, “I would even go so far as to say that in 10 years of negotiations, we never achieved as much progress as we have made this year.”

The remarks by the top German diplomat came as officials from Iran and the United States are holding a second day of discussions in their latest round of talks over Tehran’s nuclear program in the Swiss city of Montreux.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry are heading the two delegations.

The Iranian and American negotiators met for 2.5 hours on Monday.

The new round of talks in Montreux comes as representatives from Iran and the United States held three rounds of intense negotiations in the Swiss city of Geneva on February 22-23 to bridge their differences ahead of the July 1 deadline for Iran and the P5+1 to reach a comprehensive nuclear deal.

Iran and the six powers are in talks to narrow their differences on outstanding issues related to Tehran’s nuclear dossier. The two sides have missed two deadlines since an interim deal was signed in November 2013.