French FM due in Vienna for Iran N-talks

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is reportedly due in the Austrian capital of Vienna to assess the progress of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group.

A French diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Thursday that Fabius is expected to arrive in Vienna on July 13, where he and officials from the P5+1 – Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany – will “evaluate the situation” in the ongoing nuclear talks with Tehran.

The source did not mention which other foreign ministers from the six states would join the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear energy program.

Iran and its negotiating partners have been discussing ways to iron out their differences and achieve a final deal that would end the decade-old dispute over Tehran’s civilian nuclear activities.

On July 3, the two sides formally kicked off their sixth round of closed-door nuclear discussions this year in Vienna in an effort to reach a comprehensive accord as a July 20 deadline draws near.

On Thursday, Michael Mann, the spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said Ashton had invited foreign ministers of the six world powers to join the Vienna nuclear talks. Ashton represents the P5+1 group in their discussions with Tehran.

The US State Department has also announced that US Secretary of State John Kerry would travel to the Austrian capital to attend the negotiations. Heading the Iranian negotiating team, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has been in Vienna since the beginning of the talks.

Iran and the P5+1 sealed an interim deal in Geneva, Switzerland, last November. The accord took effect in January and expires on July 20, but the deadline can be extended depending on an agreement by all parties involved the talks.