Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 17
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran and the P5+1 have started the first round of talks on Dec. 17 to find a solution to the outstanding issues over Tehran's disputed nuclear program after the extension of negotiation deadline on Nov.24, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported.
The fresh round of talks takes place on deputy foreign ministers level in Swiss city of Geneva, where the Iranian diplomats earlier held bilateral meetings with the US and French delegations in the last two days.
The Islamic Republic diplomats also are scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Russian, Chinese and other European delegations.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi who heads Iranian nuclear negotiating team said that the atmosphere of the nuclear talks is great, but the two sides still have a long way to reach a comprehensive agreement.
Araqchi made the remarks on Dec 16 after a bilateral meeting with the US representatives.
Iran and the P5+1 group (the US, UK, France, Russia, China plus Germany) agreed to extend nuclear talks until July 1, 2015 after failing to meet the 24 Nov. deadline to reach a comprehensive nuclear agreement.
The sides also extended the Geneva nuclear deal, which was signed last November for providing Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities.
The US and its west allies suspects Iran of developing a nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies. The Islamic Republic has on numerous occasions stated that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, using nuclear technology for electricity generation and medical purposes instead.
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Umid Niayesh is Trend Agency's staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @UmidNiayesh