Tehran nuclear talks at breathtaking stage: Iran negotiator

Senior Iranian negotiator Abbas Araqchi says nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers have reached a breathtaking stage.

“The nuclear negotiations have reached a breathtaking point and both sides have entered into many details,” Araqchi said on Friday.

Araqchi, who is also the deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said the Iranian negotiating team will continue to insist on Iran’s rights and will not overstep the country’s "redlines" in the talks.

Acknowledging that the two sides are still divided over “key issues”, Araqchi said, “We will by no means leave the negotiating table, but will not retreat an iota from Iran’s rights either.” 

He said that Iran is ready to accept solutions that would allay concerns over the country’s nuclear energy program provided that they take into consideration the Islamic Republic’s rights and redlines.

According to Araqchi, no concrete progress has been made yet in the ongoing talks.

Iran and the six world powers - the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany - are currently in talks to work out a final accord that would end the dispute over Tehran’s civilian nuclear work.

On Thursday night, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and US Secretary of State John Kerry held a meeting in New York to discuss progress made during the ongoing nuclear talks and to confer on how to proceed with the negotiations.

Zarif leads the Iranian negotiating team while Ashton heads the opposite side. 

The two sides clinched an interim deal in Geneva, Switzerland, last November. The agreement took effect on January 20 and expired six months later. In July, they agreed to extend the negotiations until November 24 amid differences over a number of key issues.