Zarif, Ashton wrap up 3rd day of talks in Vienna

IRNA – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton wrapped up their third day of meeting in Vienna on Friday.
The US top negotiator Wendy Sherman also attended the joint Zarif-Ashton meeting for some hour.

Most of the reporters were looking for a response to the question whether writing the text of final agreement has begun or it has been postponed to the next round of talks.

Meantime, Iran cautioned western powers against making unrealistic demands.

The western powers have to have a realistic assessment of the situation, the source made clear.

ˈOf course having differences in important talks like the nuclear issue is normal, however the western powers have yet to deal with the Iranian case realistically,ˈ an informed source close to the Iranian delegation told IRNA in Vienna on Friday.

There is still time for the West to finally become realistic, the source added.

He said many of the statistics on the nuclear dossier that have been published so far in western media reports, are simply baseless.

Zarif arrived in the Austrian capital on May 13 for talks with the six western powers (US, Britain, Russia, France and China plus Germany) to hammer out a final nuclear agreement by the end of the six-month interim accord set to expire on July 20,

The negotiations between Iran and the sextet are focused on drafting a final deal that will ultimately provide a comprehensive solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.

The talks between Tehran and the G5+1 are part of efforts to seal a final deal on Iran’s nuclear energy program.

Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) representatives had several sessions of talks in Vienna on March 18-19.

Following the breakthrough interim agreement between Iran and the six powers, the two sides accepted to send their senior negotiating teams to monthly meetings to discuss a final and comprehensive deal until July. If the seven nations fail to agree on a final deal by then, the Geneva interim agreement will be extended for another 6 months.

On November 24, Iran and the Group 5+1 sealed a six-month Joint Plan of Action to lay the groundwork for the full resolution of the West’s decade-long dispute with Iran over the latterˈs peaceful nuclear energy program.