N-talks to go on same track: Iran Daily

Tehran, Dec 8, IRNA - 'Iran Daily' on Monday commenting on the extension of the nuclear talks, expressed its belief that a permanent deal could possibly be reached within the new deadline if the P5+1, particularly the US, sets aside its unreasonable and excessive demands. The English-language paper in its Opinion column was referring to the Iran and the P5+1 who have long been in talks to end the dispute on the country’s nuclear energy program. Both sides ended their latest round of negotiations in Vienna last month and chose to extend the nuclear talks and the Geneva deal signed last year for another seven months aimed to find ways to reach a final and comprehensive agreement. Both Iran and major powers seek to secure their own goals based on their national interests, noted the paper. The United States has decided to make changes in its negotiating team as State Department’s deputy sanctions chief Richard Nephew is about to leave. But this is unlikely to affect the Obama administration’s stance on the process of nuclear talks and the sanctions imposed on the country, it added. In fact, the extension of the Geneva deal means that no more sanctions will be slapped on Iran in the next seven months. Therefore, Nephew’s removal from the US negotiating team should not be translated into new sanctions. There might be changes in the composition of the negotiating teams as was the case when William Burns left the US team after he retired in November as deputy secretary of state but this did not have any impact on the nuclear talks. Such replacements do not necessarily mean that general policies dominating the nuclear negotiations would undergo changes. Therefore, the negotiations are expected to be continued along the same lines. Iran and the sextet tried to hammer out a final deal before the November-24 deadline, but they failed to do so due to certain disagreements on key issues, concluded the paper.