Iran, U.S. hold ‘useful’ nuclear talks in Geneva

 

“The talks were good and useful,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said after the end of the meeting, which was held at deputy ministerial level. 

 

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns led the U.S. delegation, which included Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Jake Sullivan, the adviser to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.

 

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi and a number of Iranian and U.S. experts also took part in the talks. 

 

“The purpose of the discussions was to examine the latest state of the talks (between Iran and the major powers on Tehran’s nuclear program) and explore ways to narrow differences,” Araqchi said. 

 

“The discussions lasted five hours, and it was agreed that such discussions will continue in coming months,” he said. 

 

He also said that bilateral meetings with other major powers involved in the talks on Tehran’s nuclear program are being arranged.

 

Araqchi expressed hope that the bilateral talks would lead to a high-level round of nuclear talks between Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in September. 

 

Iran and the six major powers failed to meet a self-imposed July 20 deadline to work out a comprehensive deal to resolve the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program, which has dragged on for more than a decade. 

 

After three weeks of intensive talks in Vienna, Iran and the major powers announced on July 19 that they had agreed to extend the talks on a final deal until November 24.