Abbas Araqchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, also said late Sunday the talks between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries are "in a very critical situation."
“We are in the last stage of negotiations, we are in a very critical situation... and the mood is changing after each meeting,” Araqchi stated.
The senior Iranian diplomat denied reports that a tentative agreement has been reached between the two sides, saying good progresses has been made during the new round of talks that kicked off Thursday in the Swiss city of Lausanne.
“There are many items on the table. For many of them we have already found solutions. We are trying to close the list and find solutions on each and every item,” he said, adding, “Getting to an accord is doable. Solutions have been found for numerous questions. We are still working on two or three issues.”
Responding to a question by Press TV on whether the issues are political or technical, Araqchi said, “Everything is political; of course we have technical issues,” which he said could “lead to political decisions.”
He also said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his counterparts from the P5+1 group - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - are expected to hold a plenary meeting on Monday to discuss the final issues before the March 31 deadline.
Zarif and his British counterpart Philip Hammond, whose late arrival in Lausanne delayed the much anticipated ministerial meeting, are holding a bilateral meeting late Sunday.
Hammond said upon his arrival in Lausanne that the nuclear deal with Iran “can be done,” expressing hope the two sides could have success “over the coming hours.”
Zarif held other talks with Chinese and German foreign ministers Sunday and was also due to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov later in the day.
The final stage of the talks in Lausanne are expected to continue until at least Tuesday, when the P5+1 foreign ministers are expected to reach common understanding to pave the way for a broader and comprehensive deal between Iran and the P5+1 before July 1.
