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Germany makes all-out effort for Iran deal: FM

Nuclear Program Materials 17 March 2015 05:20 (UTC +04:00)
Germany’s foreign minister says his country will “leave nothing untried” in the coming weeks and months to help a potential nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 countries.
Germany makes all-out effort for Iran deal: FM

Germany's foreign minister says his country will "leave nothing untried" in the coming weeks and months to help a potential nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 countries, Press TV reported.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier made the comments on Monday after talks in Belgium's capital of Brussels with his French, British and Iranian counterparts as well as the diplomatic chief of the EU, Federica Mogherini, the German news agency DPA reported.

"The technical parameters for a solution to the nuclear dispute are on the table," he said following the two-hour talks chaired by Mogherini.

He stressed that the negotiating sides "have made progress in recent weeks," but pointed to "large hurdles" that have remained to be overcome.

The top German diplomat also called on Iran and the P5+1 countries (the United States, Britain, France, China, and Russia plus Germany) not to "recklessly gamble away" the unique chance to reach an agreement over Tehran's nuclear issue.

Negotiations about the Iranian nuclear issue entered a critical phase on Monday with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry meeting in the Swiss city of Lausanne in another attempt to narrow gaps on the outstanding issues.

The new round of talks opened in the Swiss city on Sunday as head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi and US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz held high-level technical talks in the presence of experts from Iran and the US as well as the AEOI spokesman, Behrouz Kamalvandi.

After his Monday talks with Kerry, Zarif left for the meeting in Brussels.

In a statement issued late Monday, Mogherini said the meeting was "useful", adding that European diplomats stressed "their determination to work towards reaching agreement with Iran."

The British foreign secretary also said that Iran and the six world powers are still "making progress but there is a long way to go if we're going to get there."

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, for his part, stressed that Paris seeks a "solid deal."

"Certain points are yet to be resolved; we hope we will be able to resolve them, but as long as it's not done, it's not done," he added.

Zarif, meanwhile, returned to Lausanne for more talks with Kerry on Tuesday.

Iran and the P5+1 countries are seeking to seal a comprehensive nuclear deal by July 1.The two sides have already missed two self-imposed deadlines for inking a final agreement since they signed an interim one in the Swiss city of Geneva in November 2013.

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