Iran rejects AP report of nuclear deal with P5+1

Iran has rejected a Western media report that it has reached a nuclear deal with the P5+1 group of world powers to ship an enriched uranium stockpile to Russia.

“No agreement has been reached yet on any of the issues [being discussed] during nuclear talks” between the Islamic Republic and six world powers, said Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham, on Saturday.

The reaction came after The Associated Press quoted two unnamed diplomats as claiming that “negotiators at the December round of nuclear talks drew up for the first time a catalog outlining areas of potential accord and differing approaches to remaining disputes.”

The diplomats added that “both sides in the talks are still arguing about how much of an enriched uranium stockpile to leave Iran.”

Afkham, however, said that such “politically-motivated” speculations by certain foreign media outlets are aimed “harming the atmosphere of the talks and complicating any settlement of the [nuclear] issue.”

The next round of nuclear talks between Tehran and the P5+1 group will be held at the deputy level on Monday.

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — Russia, China, France, Britain and the United States — plus Germany wrapped up talks on Iran’s nuclear energy program in the Swiss city of Geneva on Wednesday.

The three-day discussions were organized three weeks after Tehran and the six countries failed to reach a final agreement by a November 24 deadline.

Despite making progress, Iran and the six countries failed to clinch a final nuclear deal during their previous talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

However, Tehran and the P5+1 agreed to extend their discussions for seven more months until July 1, 2015. They also agreed that the interim deal they had signed in Geneva last November remain in place during the negotiations.