VIENNA, October 14 (RIA Novosti) – Negotiators from the European Union, the United States and Iran will hold a series of meetings on October 14-15 with the aim of making progress on the Iranian nuclear issue, Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, told RIA Novosti Tuesday.
"There will be a bilateral [meeting] between Ashton and [Iranian Foreign Minister Javad] Zarif followed by a trilateral. The aim is to make progress on the key elements of the talks," Mann said.
"On Tuesday there will be a meeting of deputy chief negotiators of USA, EU and Iran to prepare for the following day contact between the principals," the spokesman noted.
The sides are expected to set the date for the next round of talks between Tehran and the so-called P5+1 group, which includes Russia, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, China and Germany.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Vienna to take part in trilateral ministerial talks with Iran and the European Union on Wednesday.
The latest round of negotiations on Iran's nuclear program took place on September 24. Mediators from the P5+1 group held a meeting with an Iranian delegation in New York, though the parties failed to reach an agreement on any of the key issues.
Iran and the P5+1 group initially agreed to reach a long-term nuclear agreement by July 2014 during a meeting in November 2013. The deadline was later moved to November 2014.
The West has been accusing Tehran of developing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear program — claims repeatedly denied by Iranian authorities.
