Baku, Azerbaijan, March 3
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
The second round of Iran-US negotiations over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program started in Montreux, Switzerland on March 3.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his US counterpart John Kerry are heading the negotiations in this round of talks.
The Iranian team remains unchanged from the last round of talks which was held in February in Geneva.
In addition to high-ranking diplomatic officials, Iran and the US are also bringing their nuclear energy chiefs to the negotiations to cover the technical side.
Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization and US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz as well as Iranian deputy foreign ministers Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takht Ravanchi and Hossein Fereydoun, the younger brother of Iran's President Hassan Rouhani ad his special aid have participated in the talks, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported March 3.
The US Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Helga Schmid, deputy EU foreign Policy chief also attended this round of talks.
First round of the ongoing nuclear talks among Iranian, US and EU negotiators was held in presence of Iranian and US deputy foreign ministers, Araqchi and Takht Ravanchi and Sherman as well as deputy EU foreign policy chief, Helga Schmid on March 2 evening.
Salehi and Moniz also held talks over technical details in Montreux, at the same day evening.
Iran and the P5+1 (the US, the UK, Russia, China, France and Germany) are aiming to reach a political understanding by March 31 in the run-up to a comprehensive deal by July 1 deadline.
After the sides failed to meet the November 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.
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