MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) – Top diplomats of the “5+1” group of international negotiators are to attend talks on Iran’s nuclear program in Geneva on Saturday, an indication that a deal on the issue may be at hand.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who arrived on Friday, will be joined by his French counterpart Laurent Fabius and British Foreign Minister William Hague, Reuters said.
The US State Department said late Friday that its head, John Kerry, is heading for Geneva as well.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will also be attending, according to AFP, as will his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, whose arrival was announced by Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
The talks on Iran’s nuclear program are “in their final moment,” a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry was cited by Xinhua as saying.
Expectations ran high at the previous round of talks in Geneva earlier this month, also attended by 5+1 foreign ministers and Iran’s top diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif.
But a deal failed to materialize.
Western powers say Iran’s officially peaceful nuclear program may be aimed at producing atomic weapons.
Iran reportedly proposed in Geneva a partial and possibly temporary freeze of its nuclear program in exchange for lifting of some of the sanctions against the country’s economy.
The extent of the freeze and the sanctions to be lifted remain a topic of debate.
