French FM to Join Iran-G5+1 Talks in Geneva

(FNA)- French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is due to arrive in Geneva to join talks between Iran and the six world powers on Tehran's nuclear standoff with the West, as expectations of a breakthrough are high.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is also slated to join the negotiations in Geneva.

Kerry was on a tour of the Middle-East, but changed his plans at the invitation of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

Iranian Foreign Minister and Top Negotiator Mohammad Javad Zarif said he is optimistic about striking a deal with the world powers in the current talks between the two sides in Geneva.

“If all parties try, we could reach an agreement in the negotiations in Geneva,” Zarif told reporters in the Swiss city of Geneva, which is hosting two days of talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 (the US, Britain, Russia, China and France plus Germany).

Zarif further expressed the hope that the world powers would enter the negotiations with “seriousness,” saying, “We expect serious negotiations and (believe that) it is possible to reach a deal.”

The Iranian foreign minister also described his breakfast meeting Thursday morning with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton as “good”. Ashton represents the G5+1 in the talks over Iran’s nuclear program.

Also in relevant remarks on Thursday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister and Senior Negotiator in talks with the world powers Seyed Abbas Araqchi stressed that the G5+1 has accepted Tehran’s proposed framework to continue the talks, adding that both sides are resolved to endorse an agreement.

“The first session of the new round of negotiations between Iran and the G5+1 was held and we reviewed the last Geneva meeting (held on October 15 and 16) and the G5+1 announced that they have accepted Iran’s proposed framework,” Araqchi told Iranian reporters after the end of the first session of the talks between the two sides in Geneva on Thursday.

The first session of the Thursday talks between Iran and the world powers started in Geneva at 11:00 (local time) and ended after 45 minutes.

Araqchi said all the diplomats attending the today talks believed that the two-day experts meeting held between the two sides in Vienna on October 30 and 31 to discuss the details of Iran's new proposal for soothing the standoff with the West were “enlightening” and provided good information.

“They (the two sides) are due to start negotiations on the contents and talk about the details. The first step is highly important since we will enter a new atmosphere of cooperation. The last step is also important since it shows where we will reach,” he added.

In relevant remarks on Thursday, Michael Mann, the spokesman for Ashton, announced that Iran and the G5+1 are holding the most serious part of their talks to settle the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program.

“The negotiations are highly complicated and have reached a serious stage but we cannot discuss the details since we want to focus on the contents,” Mann told reporters in a press conference after the start of the first round of talks between Iran and the world powers in Geneva on Thursday.

He described as good the meetings held between the two sides since yesterday, including the breakfast meeting between Zarif and Ashton, to confer on the latest developments in the talks between Tehran and the G5+1, and said, “Other meetings are also due to be held this afternoon within different frameworks.”

Asked about the G5+1’s efforts to respond to Iran’s proposal for finding common goals, Mann said, “First, we should be assured that the nuclear goals of the Iranian side are peaceful and then we can come close to a common goal.”

Also, asked about certain sides, specially the Israeli officials’, opposition to the removal of the sanctions against Iran, he said, “We negotiate to reach a good and verifiable agreement to guarantee that the agreement is good for all.”