MOSCOW, November 16 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian television Saturday that the world powers and Iran have no fundamental disagreements now and there is a “very good chance” of clinching a long-sought deal on Tehran’s nuclear program.
The latest round of talks in Geneva on November 10 between Iran and the six powers – the US, Britain, Russia, China, France and Germany – ended with no deal, although the sides signaled concrete progress has been made and expressed hopes that an agreement could be reached in the near future.
“Now there are no fundamental disagreements on the issues that need to be resolved in practical terms,” and what is necessary is to “correctly draw up the agreement we have reached in diplomatic language to make it a truly joint document rather than the one imposed from outside,” Lavrov said in an interview with Postscriptum program on the Russian TVC channel.
The talks with Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif showed for the first time in many years that the six world powers and Iran are “ready to seek common ground instead of presenting mostly uncorrelated views,” Lavrov said.
After talks, Iran’s foreign minister said he was pleased that all were “on the same wavelength” and “can build on and move forward,” Press TV said. “We expect serious negotiations,” Zarif said.
World powers and Iran are negotiating a tentative deal that would freeze some of Iran’s suspected nuclear activities in exchange for relief from crippling economic sanctions.
Six world powers and Iran agreed to resume talks in Geneva on November 20.
