Next round of talks on Iranian nuclear programme to be held in Geneva on Dec 17

GENEVA, December 17. /TASS/. The next round of talks on the Iranian nuclear programme between six international mediators (five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany) and Iran will be held in Geneva on Wednesday, December 17. Russia’s chief negotiator for the talks is Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. It will be the first meeting after talks in Vienna on the ministerial level on November 23-24, when a final agreement was postponed till late June 2015. Russia believes the new timing is quite real. It will take time to work out a technical detailed supplement to the main political agreement that may be reached in a few months, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with France 24 Television on Tuesday. June seemed to be realistic time, and the work was not expected to be prolonged, he said. Earlier, Lavrov said a final document would be worked out in three-four months. Sources from the delegations said the most difficult issues were a schedule to lift sanctions imposed against Iran and the fate of the Arak reactor. The Iranian problem was among topics Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed in Rome on Sunday. Before the meeting in Geneva, Ryabkov discussed the Iranian issue with French political and security director general Nicolas de Riviere and Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanaei. When asked about disputed issues, Ryabkov told TASS that a schedule to lift sanctions and work of the Arak reactor remained unsettled. All the issues had been discussed in a package, without separating something, he added. The diplomat said results of the talks should be summed up after the next round on Wednesday. Read more