Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11
Trend:
The delegations of Iran and Russia held a bilateral meeting before the nuclear talks of Iran and the P5+1 group in Oman's capital, an Iranian source familiar with the negotiations told TASS.
"The sides discussed various aspects of the negotiation process," the source said. "As of today, all delegations plan to conduct several meetings in various formats."
The Russian delegation is headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
The meeting of Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and EU coordinator Catherine Ashton will begin after 11:00 IRST (UTC/GMT +3:30 hours).
Iran and P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council comprising of China, France, Russia, Britain, the US Plus Germany) sealed an interim deal in Geneva on November 24, 2013 to pave the way for the full resolution of the West's decade-old dispute with Iran over the country's nuclear energy program.
The Geneva deal took effect on January 20 and expired on July 20. However the two sides agreed to extend their talks for four months till Nov. 24 to reach a permanent deal on Iran's disputed nuclear program.
In exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the US and its allies agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against Tehran.
Iran and P5+1 are negotiating to reach a comprehensive nuclear agreement until Nov.24.
Zarif said on Nov.9 before leaving Tehran that the talks in Oman will focus on disputes between the two parties, mainly about uranium enrichment and lifting of sanctions as well as the duration of comprehensive agreement.