Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Iran and six world powers - the US, Britain, China, Russia, France and Germany - launched a new round of negotiations in Geneva on November 20 to resolve the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.

The world powers hope for a deal over Iran's nuclear program, as the last round of nuclear talks ended on November 10 without any progress.

The U.S. and some of Western countries suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies. Iran says it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons and is using nuclear energy for medical research instead.

Prior to the nuclear talks, head of Iranian delegation, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif voiced optimism about the prospect of success at the talks, Press TV reported.

He called for an end to "an unnecessary crisis" over Iran's nuclear program.

"I think there is every possibility for success of these talks, provided that the two sides engage in these discussions with good faith and with the political will to resolve the problem," Zarif said.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in turn, said Tehran would not step back from its nuclear rights and he had set "red lines" for his negotiators in Geneva.

Khamenei also said he would not get involved in the details of the negotiations between Iran and the six countries.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia is hopeful that a preliminary deal will emerge this week.

"We hope the efforts that are being made will be crowned with success at the meeting that opens today in Geneva," he said.

Lavrov said Iran and the six world powers can reach an agreement in the ongoing nuclear talks if the negotiators do not put "sticks in the wheels".

He also said that the imposition of sanctions against Iran will not resolve the West's dispute over Tehran's nuclear energy program.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate agreed to delay a vote on additional sanctions against Iran.

U.S. President Barack Obama asked key senators on November 19 to hold back on fresh sanctions against Iran to allow talks about Tehran's nuclear program to advance.

The US Senate Banking Committee has been mulling whether to move ahead with the new anti-Iran sanctions bill, which it had delayed before the recent round of the nuclear talks on November 7-10.

"We will see, in Geneva, whether or not Iran is prepared to reach an agreement with the unified P5 +1 that commits itself to, in a transparent way, taking steps to halt progress on its nuclear program and roll back certain important aspects of it," White House spokesperson Jay Carney said.

However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Washington, Israel's main ally, to avoid making a "historical mistake" when negotiators appeared close to a deal this month. Israel wants Iran to scrap its entire nuclear energy infrastructure.

Israel has warned it may bomb Iranian nuclear facilities if it deems diplomacy futile in reining in Tehran before it attains nuclear "breakout" capability, Reuters reported.