Iran, 3 EU deputy FMs to meet to discuss nuclear talks

Deputy foreign ministers from Iran are going to sit down with diplomats from the UK, France and Germany in the Turkish city of Istanbul later this month to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi and Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi will pursue nuclear talks with the European deputy foreign ministers in Istanbul on January 29.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry earlier held talks about Tehran’s nuclear program on Friday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss city of Davos.

Speaking to Iranian media after the meeting, Zarif said they discussed the need to speed up the talks between the Islamic Republic and world powers over Tehran’s nuclear program.

He added that the two sides exchanged views on technical issues, including Iran’s uranium enrichment program.

The meeting between Zarif and Kerry came while their deputies, Wendy Sherman and Araqchi, kicked off two-day talks in Zurich.

Iran and the P5+1 countries – the US, France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany – are in talks to secure a final comprehensive deal over Tehran’s nuclear work.

Political directors of Iran and the six states wrapped up their talks in Geneva, Switzerland, on January 18.

Since an interim deal was agreed in Geneva in November 2013, the negotiating sides have missed two deadlines to ink a final agreement.

Tehran and the six countries now seek to reach a high-level political agreement by March 1 and to confirm the full technical details of the accord by July 1.