Araqchi: US, Iran Aiming to Achieve Greater Progress on N. Program

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday that Iran and the US are aiming to reach greater progress on Tehran’s nuclear program than was achieved during the last rounds of negotiations.
“The United States and Iran are aiming to reach greater progress on Tehran’s nuclear program than was achieved during the last rounds of negotiations,” Abbas Araqchi said in an interview with Sputniknews.

“Last time we made a progress (in Geneva). We are trying to make more progress. But now it’s too soon to say,” Araqchi added.

Zarif and Kerry, who both addressed the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, later went to Montreux for bilateral nuclear talks, to be followed later this week by talks there between political directors from the six major powers (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany) and Iran.

The Iranian and American teams of negotiators had several days of talks in Geneva late in February. Then after two days of negotiations, Zarif, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi and President Rouhani’s brother and senior aide Hossein Fereidoun as well as Kerry and Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz joined their deputies in the talks.

After two days of intensive negotiations with his US counterpart, Zarif said that Tehran and Washington have had “serious, useful and constructive” talks in the last few days, but there is still a long way ahead before a final nuclear deal can be struck.