Brussels, 21/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, speaking in the evening of Thursday 20 November, urged the E3+3 (France, Germany, United Kingdom, China, Russia and United States) and Iran to reach agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme. Talks are continuing in Vienna, with the deadline for agreement on Monday 24 November.
“Negotiations between the E3+3 and Iran have now entered a decisive phase. I hope that they will succeed in achieving a long-term and comprehensive diplomatic solution which will address international concerns as regards the Iranian nuclear issue”, Mogherini said in a press release. “This is the time for Iran to take the strategic decision to open the way for a historic and final settlement of the nuclear issue which would mark the beginning of a new chapter in relations between Iran and the international community”, she added. She also thanked Catherine Ashton, her predecessor in the post of high representative, for “her dedication to this difficult negotiation”;
Difficult negotiations. On 20 November, Russian negotiator Sergei Ryabkov regretted the difficulty of the talks, according to Russian agency Ria Novosti. “In the current situation, if there is no fresh momentum, agreement will be very difficult to reach”, he said, as “the discussions are being conducted in an atmosphere of high tension”. “Meetings in every format are continuing. Maybe, to resolve the problems that are cropping up throughout the discussions, the delegations should receive further instructions and take account of the atmosphere”, he added.
After it was planned that Iranian minister Mohammad Javad Zarif would travel to Tehran on Saturday for consultations, it would appear, as we write, that this is no longer the case. According to an Iranian source quoted by AFP, the talks around “ideas” put forward by the Iranian side “have not reached the point where Mr Zarif can put them to Tehran”. “Consequently he will not be going to Tehran”, the source added.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Zarif met on Thursday evening, 20 November, then again the next morning, with Catherine Ashton in attendance. A further meeting took place between Ashton, Kerry, the foreign ministers of France, Laurent Fabius, and the United Kingdom, Philip Hammond, and a German representative. (CG)