Steady progress made in Iran-Sextet nuclear talks: Analyst

Iran and the six major powers have so far made “steady progress” in their talks about Tehran’s nuclear energy program after the conclusion of the Geneva interim deal, a political analyst tells Press TV.

The high-level experts from Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany expressed satisfaction with the results of their constructive meeting held in the Austrian capital, Vienna, last week, Kaveh Afrasiabi, the author and political scientist, said on Tuesday.

“So that sets a good tone for this round which is considered to be a pre-draft meeting for the parties to hammer out the differences in order to, at the follow-up meeting which would be some time in May, to actually draft the final comprehensive agreement and its constituent elements,” Afrasiabi added.

Iran and the six countries – Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany — began a new round of nuclear talks in the Austrian capital in a series of negotiations aimed at fully resolving the decade-old dispute over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program.

Iran and the six world powers reached an interim deal on November 24, 2013, in the Swiss city of Geneva. The deal took effect on January 20.

The commentator said despite steady progress in the nuclear talks between the two sides, there are some remaining important issues including Iran’s enrichment activities, Arak heavy water reactor, and a number of other subsidiary questions which are still being worked out.

“Let me add that the Geneva agreement is not simply a six months interim agreement that would be renewable by the consent of parties by another six months. It is something more than that because it includes references to what the final agreement should be and should include. For example it talks about the Arak reactor and dealing with the technical aspects of it and so on,” the analyst said.

He added that he believes there is some foreshadowing of the comprehensive final agreement in the interim deal that gives a clue as to the shape of things to come.

Under the Geneva deal, the six countries agreed to provide Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities during a six-month period. It was also agreed that no nuclear-related sanctions would be imposed on the Islamic Republic within this timeframe.