“[Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad] Zarif confirms Iran’s readiness for the next round of negotiations at the level of deputy foreign ministers to be held on January 15,” Hossein Naqvi Hosseini told reporters.
Earlier in December, Russian envoy Sergei Ryabkov expressed optimism and said the sides to the talks "continue to come closer" to bridging differences.
Having failed to agree on a comprehensive deal with Iran in Vienna, the P5+1 group of international mediators extended its November 24 deadline for reaching an agreement over Tehran's uranium enrichment program to July 1, 2015.
The group, comprising Russia, China, France, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, has been in talks with Iran since 2006 in an attempt to secure the peaceful nature of Tehran's nuclear program.
The Iranian leadership has on numerous occasions denied accusations that it intends to build nuclear weapons and has insisted its program is entirely peaceful.
