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Rouhani’s brother joins Iranian nuclear negotiators in Geneva

Nuclear Program Materials 21 February 2015 17:32 (UTC +04:00)
Hossein Fereydoun, the younger brother of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, arrived in Geneva, Switzerland on Feb. 21 to participate in the nuclear talks with the US, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported.
Rouhani’s brother joins Iranian nuclear negotiators in Geneva

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 21

By Umid Niayesh - Trend:

Hossein Fereydoun, the younger brother of Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, arrived in Geneva, Switzerland on Feb. 21 to participate in the nuclear talks with the US, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported.

Fereydoun's presence alongside with the Iranian nuclear negotiating team is for "necessary coordination and consultations during the ongoing talks," Mohammad Ali Hosseini, an official with the Islamic Republic's Foreign Ministry said.

The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi will hold talks with the US energy secretary, Ernest Moniz on Feb. 21 at the second day of Iran-US negotiations over Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

The talks will include "the technical issues" of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1, according to Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.

On Feb. 20, representatives of Iran and the US started a fresh round of talks in Geneva to narrow remaining gaps ahead of the March 1 deadline for a high-level political agreement.

Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, Abbas Araqchi and the US under secretary of state for political affairs, Wendy Sherman held over five hours of talks on Feb. 20.

The Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the US Secretary of State John Kerry are scheduled to join the talks on Feb. 22 and hold discussions for two days.

Iran and the P5+1 (the US, the UK, Russia, China, France and Germany) extend their talks to reach a comprehensive nuclear deal, with the aim of reaching a high-level political agreement by March 1, and confirming the full technical details of the agreement by July 1.

After the sides failed to meet the Nov. 24, 2014 deadline they also extended the Geneva nuclear deal, which was signed in November 2013 to provide Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities.

The US and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies.

Follow the author on Twitter: @UmidNiayesh

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