Iran's deputy lead negotiator Seyed Abbas Araqchi voiced satisfaction in the progressive trend of the talks with the six major world powers, and said a final deal before the November 24 deadline is not out of reach.
Seyed Abbas Araqchi, who is also the country's deputy foreign minister, expressed satisfaction in the “considerable” progress made in the process of the talks, and said, “We hope that we can achieve an agreement by the specified deadline, namely November 24.”
“Neither of the negotiating parties is interested in extending (the deadline of) the talks. All sides are determined to achieve an agreement prior to the deadline. Therefore, extension is not on the agenda of any of the parties,” Araqchi underlined.
Araqchi announced earlier in the day that Tehran and the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany) are due to hold experts talks in Vienna on Wednesday and Thursday.
He also said that a trilateral meeting among Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, his US counterpart John Kerry and the EU foreign policy chief will possibly be held in the next two weeks, but he didn’t mention the venue of the talks.
Iran and the six major world powers ended their 8th round of nuclear negotiations in Vienna on Thursday.
The 7th round of the talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 was held in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting last month.
The two sides held six rounds of negotiations in Vienna to reach a comprehensive deal after they inked an interim agreement in Geneva on November 24.
The Geneva agreement took effect on January 20 and expired six months later on July 20. In July, Tehran and the six countries agreed to extend negotiations until November 24 after they failed to reach an agreement on a number of key issues.