Zarif, Ashton meet in Switzerland

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has met with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

On Thursday, Zarif and Ashton evaluated the latest process of talks between Iran and the six major world powers on Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

The Iranian foreign minister and the EU foreign policy chief also had a discussion on the proposed dates for continuing the talks and highlighted the necessity of interaction for finalizing an appropriate date.

On Monday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi, who is also a senior nuclear negotiator, said Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — Russia, China, France, Britain and the United States — plus Germany may resume talks in February.

Araqchi said it had previously been agreed that negotiations on the final step would begin shortly after the implementation of the interim nuclear deal clinched between Iran and the six powers in Geneva last November.

Under the deal, which was implemented on January 20, the six countries undertook to provide Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities during six months. It was also agreed that no nuclear-related sanctions would be imposed on the country within the same timeframe.

The Geneva accord is aimed at setting the stage for the full resolution of the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.