Talks on Iran’s nuclear program to continue next week - Russian diplomat

LAUSANNE/Switzerland/, March 20. /TASS/. The next round of negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program between Iran and P5+1 world powers is likely to be held next week, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters on Friday. "There is no exact date yet, everything depends on how the meeting will be held in the next two days," Ryabkov said. "As for this round, we believe that the major work this time will be completed on Saturday," he said. The talks are likely to be held in the same format as the current round of negotiations, Ryabkov said. "There will be bilateral meetings of the US and Iranian delegations, and also meetings of the political directors of six powers," he said. Ryabkov stressed that the talks are of a multilateral character and it would be wrong to say that they are held only in the US-Iran bilateral format. "The process involves all the sides that raise the issues of interest to them," he said. "This also refers to Russia. We have our own questions and we are working out all of them. We believe the agreement is unlikely without taking in consideration our priorities and approaches to the right degree," Ryabkov said. The diplomat stressed that there is no danger of a "breakdown" and expressed optimism about the talks. "The collective character of work, the level of the established contacts and the confidential character of our relations with other partners allow us to hope that our priorities will be duly taken into account. This gives certain ground for optimism," he said. At a meeting in Vienna in November 2014, the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and France plus Germany) and Tehran agreed to extend the deadline for an agreement in the talks on Iran’s nuclear program to June 30, 2015. The agreement stipulated that by the end of March 2015, the sides planned to achieve a principled political decision regarding disputed issues. Iran says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity, but Western powers led by the United States claim Tehran's eventual aim is to create nuclear weapons. Read more