Nuclear Negotiating Team Departs For Vienna

Tehran, March 17, IRNA – Iran’s nuclear negotiating team headed by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif left Tehran for Vienna on Monday to discuss nuclear issue with G5+1. Zarif, who left Tehran early on Monday, is accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi, Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht-e Ravanchi, Foreign Ministry Director General for Political and International Affairs Hamid Baˈeedinejad, Foreign Ministerˈs Legal Adviser Davoud Mohammadnia and Director General for Safeguards at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Amiri. Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – China, Russia, Britain, France and the United States -- plus Germany are scheduled to hold the next round of nuclear talks on Tuesday. Zarif is scheduled to meet EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who heads the Sextet during the talks, this evening. The negotiations are aimed at reaching a comprehensive accord on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program after the two sides clinched a landmark interim deal last November./end