The Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) are in talks at the moment, Mann said after the fourth round of talks between Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, adding that members of the Iranian negotiating team are consulting with each other too.
He added that the last round of the talks between the two sides has been 'better' than the negotiations held over last two days.
The last round of talks between Iran and the major world powers was held for three days in the Swiss city of Geneva on November 7-9.
The two sides did not reach an agreement due to the last minute stance of the French foreign minister, but they stressed that significant progress had been made and expressed optimism about the prospect of a possible deal in the future.
When after a day of progressive negotiations, Ashton called on US Secretary of State John Kerry to rush to Geneva to go a few more miles because a deal was possible, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who was not invited to the Geneva talks, called EU Ashton urging that he needs to be present there. Surprised Ashton was then forced to call in British and German foreign ministers to the talks as well.
Fabius appeared on several media and warned that Israel’s “concerns” must be taken into consideration.
“It is necessary to take fully into account Israel’s security concerns and those of the region,” Fabius told France Inter radio in Geneva early on November 9 at the beginning of the third day of talks between Iran and the world powers.
His remarks and negative position made the Iranian and the world powers diplomats to end the talks without any agreement and decide to meet again in Geneva on November 20 and 21.
