Iran, P5+1 end another round of Tuesday nuclear talks

Senior representatives from Iran and the P5+1 have wrapped up another round of their latest discussions on Tehran’s nuclear program in Lausanne, Switzerland.

On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sat down for a third session of nuclear talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry and his other counterparts from Germany, France, China and Britain, namely Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Laurent Fabius, Wang Yi and Philip Hammond, in Lausanne.

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini also attended the discussions.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Iranian deputy foreign ministers, Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takht-e Ravanchi, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman as well as Mogherini’s deputy, Helga Schmid, were also present in the meeting, which lasted for about an hour and a half.

Russia expects ‘positive surprise’

Ryabkov told Press TV that the Tuesday morning that talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – Russia, China, France, Britain, the US – plus Germany – were “intense.”

The senior Russian diplomat said he could not comment on the draft of a nuclear agreement between Iran and the six countries as there are “different ideas.”

“I hope you will be positively surprised,” Ryabkov said, confirming that the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will return to Lausanne early in the afternoon.

Lavrov’s spokesman had announced on Monday that he would only return to the Swiss city if there is a realistic chance for a mutual understanding.

EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini (L), Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (C) and Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi wait for the opening of a plenary session on nuclear talks at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland, on March 30, 2015. © AFP
The United States and European countries reportedly want UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on Iran to be automatically reversible, meaning that they want the possibility to be maintained to automatically re-impose the UNSC bans on Iran if there is any violation of the deal by Tehran.

However, Russia and China oppose such a scenario, saying no automatic introduction of sanctions must occur under these circumstances and that the UN Security Council must consider such a situation and make a decision.

Iranian nuclear negotiator, Hamid Ba’idinejad, said late on Monday that all the negotiating sides are making serious efforts to find solutions to the outstanding issues, stressing that the extension of the negotiations is not on the agenda of talks.