Zarif, Kerry to Join Nuclear Talks in Vienna

Local Editor

State media reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will travel to Vienna Saturday to join a final push for a comprehensive nuclear agreement with major powers.

"On Saturday morning, he will join his deputies who are at the talks drafting the text of a comprehensive agreement," the official IRNA news agency reported Thursday.

Moreover, US Secretary of State John Kerry, who was to join the talks Friday, called on the Iranian side to address all outstanding issues.

"Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Vienna, Austria, on June 26 to participate in the ongoing EU-coordinated P5+1 nuclear negotiations with Iran," US State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

On Tuesday, the leader of the Islamic Revolution His Eminence Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei set out "red lines" for the negotiations, demanding an "immediate" lifting of sanctions by the United States as well as the United Nations in any deal.

Furthermore, he also renewed his opposition to any inspection of Iranian "military sites" by the UN watchdog.

President Hassan Rouhani said Iran was seeking not only a lifting of sanctions but a rapprochement with the outside world.

"One of the ways of establishing and enhancing national strength is having dialogue with the world over political issues," IRNA quoted him as saying late Wednesday.

Rouhani continued, "And the power of interaction is one of the main elements of national strength."

"As the leader put it, we want to negotiate. We don't want to merely take a stance, but we seek serious negotiation and fair agreement," he added.

The major powers in the talks - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - reached a framework accord with Iran in April. A deadline of June 30 was set for the deal, but negotiations are widely expected to slide past that date.

Henceforth, Zarif met with his European counterparts in Luxembourg on Monday and said he saw a good chance of reaching a final agreement by the deadline or a few days later.

Accordingly, the rest of P5+1 foreign ministers were also expected to join the talks in Vienna.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team