MOSCOW, November 20 (Sputnik) – US Secretary of State John Kerry, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union envoy Catherine Ashton began a meeting on the sidelines of the nuclear talks in Vienna Thursday, the US Department of State said.
“Trilateral meeting between @JohnKerry, @JZarif, and Baroness Ashton has begun at #IranTalksVienna,” Department of State Spokeswoman Marie Harf wrote in her Twitter.
The final round of Tehran’s talks with the P5+1 group, comprising Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China and Germany, began in Vienna on Tuesday.
Tehran claims its nuclear development is aimed purely at civilian needs, such as meeting the country’s growing energy needs. However, the West suspects Iran of developing a nuclear weapon under the guise of a peaceful program.
In 2013, the international negotiators agreed to reach a long-term deal with Tehran that would guarantee a peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program by July 2014, however the deadline was later postponed to November 24.
