US, Iran to Hold Nuclear Talks on Thursday

Local Editor

Senior US and Iranian officials will hold nuclear talks in Geneva on Thursday, the US State Department said, as the two sides seek to break a logjam over Tehran's peaceful nuclear program.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi and Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi will lead the Iranian delegation.

US Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns will lead the US delegation, which will include Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, the State Department said in a statement.

The US says possible talks with Iran over Iraq would not be about military cooperation but would focus instead on pressing for a non-sectarian solution.
 
The talks are the first round of negotiations between the two sides after nuclear talks in Vienna during which Iran and six world powers agreed to extend a July 20 deadline to reach an agreement on a final nuclear deal on the Islamic Republic's nuclear energy program.

The six, a group comprised of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States known as the P5+1, have agreed to extend the deadline to reach a comprehensive agreement until Nov 24.

The State Department provided few details on Thursday's talks beyond a list of US officials who would attend.
"These bilateral consultations will take place in the context of the P5+1 nuclear negotiations led by EU High Representative Cathy Ashton," the statement said.
Two of the three key US officials involved in the talks are expected to leave the Obama administration this year.

Burns, who led secret negotiations between Iran and the United States that helped yield a November interim nuclear agreement with Tehran, plans to retire in October.
Sullivan, who also took part in the secret negotiations, plans to join Yale University's law school as a lecturer and to serve as a senior fellow at Yale's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, the university said on its website.

It is unclear if either would play any role in the talks after they leave the administration.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said on Wednesday that talks between Tehran and the Sextet of world powers over the Islamic Republic's nuclear energy program may resume sooner than previously speculated.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team