Zarif in New York to Attend N-talks

Local Editor

Iran's Foreign minister headed to New York Tuesday to resume nuclear talks with major powers but it was unclear if there would be a repeat visit by President Hassan Rouhani, who launched Tehran's opening a year ago.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was to hold a working lunch with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, the lead negotiator for the six powers, his deputy Abbas Araqchi said.

The two diplomats will set the terms for the re-launch of negotiations for a comprehensive deal on the future scope of Iran's nuclear program to allay international concerns about its ambitions, Araqchi told state news agency IRNA.

The talks on Wednesday and Thursday will take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
"The disagreements are serious," Araqchi said of the renewed negotiations after the two sides missed an earlier, July target date for a deal.

"We hope that after the discussions that we have had with the Americans, the Russians and the Chinese, and the talks we will have on Wednesday and Thursday, we will able to make progress," he said.

Another deputy foreign minister, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, sounded a similar note of caution after talks in Geneva last Thursday with the other three powers involved in the negotiations - Britain, France and Germany.

"After two rounds of negotiations with the European representatives, our positions have not been reconciled and disagreements over serious questions still exist," Takht-Ravanchi said Saturday.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team