Russia, China support Iran nuclear deal

Russia and China have come out in support of a deal between Iran and they six world powers over Tehran’s nuclear energy program, one day after Geneva-hosted talks ended inconclusively.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday that chances are good to work out mechanisms for signing an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program on November 20 when Iran and the world powers meet anew.

“The Sextet’s political directors will meet on November 20 to use the achievements made in recent Geneva discussions and lay approaches that could forge groundwork for a joint document. The chances are very, very high for that,” he said.

Sextet refers to the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany.

Lavrov said the Geneva talks confirmed that “polemics…are being relegated to the background, and the awareness is arriving that the time has come to take up issues which arouse concerns” in the world community.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong also said his country is committed to resolving the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.

Meanwhile, a high-ranking US delegation arrived in al-Quds (Jerusalem) on Sunday to update Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the weekend talks in Geneva.

US Under-Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman is leading the US delegates.

Earlier in the day, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said an agreement over the issues regarding Iran’s nuclear energy program is “on the table” and it can be achieved within a few weeks.

The closed-door talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — Britain, Russia, China, France and the US — plus Germany began in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday and ended on Sunday.

In a joint press conference with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said progress was made during the “productive” talks and that the two sides had reached an agreement on a number of issues.

Ashton, for her part, also said that the two sides had made “concrete progress” in the talks, which she described as “intense and constructive.”