Senior Negotiator: N-talks to Continue Until July 7
KABUL: (Middle East Press) Iranian senior nuclear negotiator has said the nuclear negotiations would continue for 7 more days in order to reach a good deal.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister and senior nuclear negotiator Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that the negotiating team will remain in Vienna for seven more days after the June 30 deadline to bring the negotiations to a positive conclusion.
“Since the suspended sanctions would automatically return to effect under the regulations, the US and Europe had to officially extend the negotiations for a couple of days and inform the IAEA to continue its commitments under the Geneva agreement,” Araghchi told IRIB.
Expressing hope for a positive outcome of the negotiations, Araghchi stressed that some differences still remain to be settled and some parts of the text of a possible deal have not yet been drafted, but the sides were working ‘day and night’ to resolve the issues.
The Iranian diplomat noted that all parties are working on the text in earnest and a positive atmosphere prevails the negotiations.
“All representatives are keen to move forward but that does not mean either of us are going to reach an agreement at any cost,” he said.
Stressing that the agreement must be a ‘good one’ which follows the framework outlined by Iran’s Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Araghchi said the sides were all hoping the seven-day extension would suffice.
“We are not bound by a time limit however, but a good agreement that will abide by all outlined principles,” he said.
As the two sides missed the self-imposed June-end deadline, the US State Department said on Tuesday that the two sides had decided to “extend the measures under (2013 interim deal) until July 7 to allow more time for negotiations to reach a long-term solution.”
If a final deal is reached by July 7, it would lift all nuclear-related sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic in exchange for certain steps Tehran will take with regard to its nuclear program.
