Iran, US, EU to Resume Fresh N. Talks Next Week

Iranian, American and EU negotiators are set to start a fresh round of talks in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on October 14-15.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Ministers Seyed Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takht Ravanchi and US Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman are to hold a bilateral meeting in the Austrian capital on Tuesday.

Meantime, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, US Secretary of State John Kerry and EU’s Chief Negotiator Catherine Ashton will hold a trilateral meeting on Wednesday.

The 7th round of talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) was held in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting last month.

The two sides held six rounds of negotiations in Vienna to reach a comprehensive deal after they inked an interim agreement in Geneva on November 24.

The Geneva agreement took effect on January 20 and expired six months later on July 20. In July, Tehran and the six countries agreed to extend negotiations until November 24 after they failed to reach an agreement on a number of key issues.