LAUSANNE (Sputnik) — Iran and the six major world powers are yet to resolve some technical issues as they meet in the Swiss city of Lausanne to hammer out a framework deal on Tehran's nuclear program, the director of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, said Saturday.
"Still we have to come to a common understanding," Salehi told journalists.
"My hope is that finally we are solving them [technical issues], that is our hope and that is what we are trying to do. I am not a pessimist in this case and I keep my optimism and hope that we will be getting somewhere," the Iranian nuclear official confessed.
The talks to pressure Iran into dismantling its controversial nuclear program entered day three on Saturday ahead of a looming deadline. The sides have until March 31 to hammer out a political framework accord, to be followed by a comprehensive agreement by June 31, 2015.
The talks kicked off with a meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif. Later in the day, Kerry is anticipated to meet one-on-one with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. The ministers will then be joined by Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier for a working lunch.
