VIENNA (Sputnik), Daria Chernyshova — On Saturday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif joined the crunch talks in Vienna. Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano also spent some time in Palais Coburg, where the talks were held.
Upon joining the negotiations, Fabius said that the final deal on Iran's nuclear program should be "robust and durable." He underlined it should include the mechanism of automatic sanctions return in case Iran violates the engagements reached in Lausanne. Moreover, he said that the international community should have access to all nuclear sites of Iran. He, nevertheless, underlined Iran's right for civil nuclear program.
"The deal should be robust and should respect Iran's right for civil nuclear program."
Earlier in the day, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that some negotiators changed their position since the previous round of talks in Lausanne. Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a speech last week that was seen by western politicians as contradictory to the arrangements reached in April.
Khamenei said that sanctions against Iran must be lifted immediately after reaching the final deal. He also claimed that inspections of non-nuclear facilities would be unacceptable for Iran. Yet, Director for Nonproliferation Policy at Arms Control Association Kelsey Davenport told Sputnik these remarks would not undermine the deal.
"I do not think his statements will ultimately undermine the deal," Davenport said.
"I think it is important to look closely at what the Supreme Leader said: he said there should be no unconventional access to military sites. I think that access under the Additional Protocol is very conventional."
She stressed that the Additional Protocol provides for a compromise on inspections, so that IAEA would be able to inspect the sites it sees suspicious, but will not have a carte blanche.
In a final effort to hammer out the final deal, the ministers held a number of bilateral meetings on Saturday. On Sunday, the talks will be joined by EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini. German, UK, Russian and Chinese foreign ministers are expected to join their counterparts in the coming days.
