Brussels, 29/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - The foreign ministers of the E3+3 (Germany, France, United Kingdom and China, United States, Russia), their Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini are back in Vienna, where they hope to reach a final agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme.
Mogherini met Zarif on Saturday 28 June. She also had bilateral meetings with the E3+3 ministers, whom she then met again in E3+3 format. In her view, political resolve exists on all sides. Several ministers then left Vienna - including Zarif, who returned to Tehran for consultations.
The ministers gave their negotiation teams political guidance and tasked them with beginning work “immediately” on the text of the final agreement, and with trying to close all the issues in order “to translate the political understanding” reached in Lausanne on 2 April (see EUROPE 11289) “into concrete details” for the coming days. The ministers will return to Vienna “in the coming days” Mogherini said, as soon as there is progress in the text in order to finalise the agreement. In Mogherini's opinion, the objective is to make sure that the ministers come back to discuss only “a couple of highly political points that need political guidance”.
Mogherini said that there were no new points open in relation to the agreement in April, but that the questions focused on how to translate “the political understanding that we have already reached into concrete details”.
Negotiations expected to go on after 30 June. Although the deadline for an agreement was set for Tuesday 30 June, the negotiations could continue for a few days, Mogherini and the Iranian party stated. “We are keeping to the deadline of 30 June. We are ready to interpret [this date] flexibly as we did before in Lausanne. If we need a few extra days, it will not be the end of the world. But it is very clear that the time limit will remain the end of June-beginning of July”, Mogherini said on 28 June, stating that postponement was not an “option”. “We will use the time we have, but it's a question of days and not more”, she said.
“Should there be a lot of work left to do, the delegations will stay in Vienna after 10 Tir [Ed: 1 July] in order to continue the negotiations to reach a good comprehensive agreement”, a spokesperson for the Iranian delegation announced the same day. “There is not yet any resolve or discussion for a long term extension of the negotiations”, he added.
The E3+3 European ministers, Mogherini and Zarif met previously in Luxembourg on 22 June (see EUROPE 11341). (Camille-Cerise Gessant)