Speaking with reporters after two days of negotiations with Zarif and other members of the Iranian team on Wednesday, Ashton said the multifaceted talks focused on Iran's enrichment program, the heavy water reactor in the Central city of Arak, civil nuclear cooperation with Iran and the western sanctions against Tehran.
She said that Iran and the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany) will try to address major issues in their negotiations, and announced that the two sides' experts will meet in the near future.
Ashton also felicitated Zarif and the Iranian nation on the advent of Nowrouz, marking the start of the new Persian Year.
Iran and the G5+1's representatives had several sessions of talks in Vienna on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On November 24, Iran and the five permanent United Nations Security Council members sealed a six-month Joint Plan of Action to lay the groundwork for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over the latter's nuclear energy program.
In exchange for Tehran’s confidence-building bid to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the Sextet of the world powers agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against Tehran and impose no nuclear-related sanctions on Iran during the six-month period.
Iran and the six world powers had an expert meeting in Vienna, Austria, on December 9. The negotiations were scheduled to continue until December 13, but the Iranian negotiators cut short the talks and returned home in protest at the US breach of the Geneva agreement by blacklisting a dozen companies and individuals for evading Washington’s sanctions.
After that US Secretary of State John Kerry tried to soothe Tehran’s anger over Washington’s fresh sanctions in a phone call to his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif. Then, the experts meetings continued and yielded results. The two sides agreed on January 20 as the date for starting implementation of the interim nuclear deal.
Eventually on January 20, a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that Iran has halted its 20-percent enrichment activity under the Geneva deal. Hours later the US and the EU removed part of their sanctions against Tehran.
Late in February, the UN nuclear watchdog agency, IAEA, announced that Iran is complying with its obligations under the Geneva nuclear deal.
In its new report, the IAEA said 20-percent uranium enrichment “is no longer taking place” by Iran as agreed in an agreement with the six world powers.
It confirmed that no additional uranium enrichment centrifuges have been installed at Iran’s Natanz and Fordo nuclear facilities. The report added that Iran has also provided the IAEA with an updated Design Information Questionnaire (DIQ) for the facility in Arak.
Meantime, a senior Iranian negotiator said on Tuesday that operations at Iran's heavy water facility in the Central city of Arak will continue.
“Arak heavy water reactor will continue its work,” Deputy Foreign Minister and senior negotiator in talks with the world powers Seyed Abbas Araqchi said in a press conference after the third session of a new round of talks between Tehran and the Group 5+1 in Vienna on Tuesday night.
He said that representatives of Iran and the world powers are due to hold talks on Arak heavy water reactor during the second and last day of their current negotiations on Wednesday.
Asked by reporters if any date is foreseen for the conclusion and closure of the negotiations between Iran and the six world powers, Araqchi said, “There is no pressure for ending the negotiations within 6 months, although there is a willingness to conclude the talks in this period.”
He noted that Iran is not optimistic about the goals and intentions of the world powers in the current talks, but meantime said, “There is hope now and we will continue our path.”
Representatives of Iran and the world powers as well as Zarif and Ashton held new round of talks on Wednesday and they are due to hold the last negotiations later today.
