Russia optimistic about nuclear talks in Vienna

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov says there is good reason to hope that the new round of the nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers will bring about progress.

The talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – China, Russia, Britain, France and the United States – plus Germany have resumed at the UN headquarters in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

“Everyone is in the working mood and there are grounds to hope that progress will be achieved but without crucial agreements since this is only the second round,” Ryabkov, who is Russia’s chief negotiator in the talks, said upon his arrival in Vienna on Monday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will preside over the talks.

Seyyed Abbas Araqchi, who is a top Iranian nuclear negotiator and Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, met with Helga Schmid, a deputy to Ashton on Monday. The two sides reached an agreement on the agenda of the upcoming talks.

According to Foreign Minister Zarif, the negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group will focus on uranium enrichment and Arak heavy water reactor. He said on Monday that both sides would also “exchange views on peaceful nuclear cooperation and sanctions.”

The talks in Vienna follow earlier negotiations in the Austrian capital, which ended on February 20.

Iran and the six world powers are working to hammer out a comprehensive deal following the interim accord reached last November in Geneva, Switzerland.

Zarif had also earlier said that Iran does not expect the two sides to reach a final agreement in the latest round of nuclear talks.