Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Iran and six major world powers have delayed meeting on the third day of their negotiations over Tehran's nuclear energy program for further internal consultations, Press TV reported.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, who leads the group of six countries, wrapped up their fourth meeting in three days in the Swiss city of Geneva on November 22.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, France, Britain, Russia and China - plus Germany kicked off their latest round of talks on November 20.

The representatives of Iran and the six other countries couldn't reach an agreement during the two days of talks because of the differences in opinions of the six international meditates.

The two sides are working to hammer out an interim deal to pave the way for final resolution of the West's decade-old standoff with Iran over its nuclear energy program.

After the second day of talks, Ashton's spokesman Michael Mann described the talks between the two sides as very "substantial and detailed."

However, Abbas Araqchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister, a member of Iran's negotiating team, said that that the differences of opinion among the six countries in the previous round of talks in Geneva had slowed down the progress of the negotiations and eroded the Iranian side's trust that its negotiating partners would remain committed to potential agreements.

In meantime, the Iranian side said they want the resolution of the dispute over the country's nuclear program and will not stop the negotiations.

Recognition of Iran's entitlement to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes remains one of the major sticking points in the talks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif said that Iran will not negotiate its right to uranium enrichment.

Zarif said Iran's right to enrichment is the country's red line and any deal with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany should include an enrichment program for Iran.

According to reports, the negotiating sides have agreed that multilateral meetings would not begin unless an initial agreement between Iran and Ashton is finalized.

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.

Iran blamed France for failure to reach a deal because of the position taken by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in favor of the Israeli regime and a lack of commitment by U.S. State Secretary John Kerry in the negotiations.

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.