Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Iranian and European nuclear negotiators are set to meet in Geneva to discuss the remaining issues over the implementation of the Geneva deal reached earlier between Iran and six other countries.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator and Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi left Tehran for Geneva to meet with Deputy EU Foreign Policy Chief Helga Schmid, Iranian media reported.

Talks are scheduled for January 9-10, and the two sides will talk on the current issues of the Iran-P5+1 expert-level nuclear negotiations.

Hamid Baeidinejad, director general for political and international affairs at Iran's Foreign Ministry who leads the Iranian experts' delegation, accompanied Araqchi in the two-day visit.

The U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman will also be in Geneva to discuss the issue with Schmid and Araqchi.

Iran and the six powers - Russia, China, France, Britain, the US, and Germany - reached a deal on November 24, 2013 in the Swiss city to set the stage for the settlement of the dispute over the Islamic Republic's nuclear energy program.

Under the Geneva deal, the six countries undertook to provide Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities during a six-month period.

It was also agreed that no nuclear-related sanctions would be imposed on Iran within the same timeframe.

Later, experts from the two sides launched talks to devise a mechanism to implement the interim deal. The expert-level talks concluded on December 31, 2013.

Meanwhile, the Iranian foreign minister has expressed optimism that the Geneva deal will lead to a comprehensive solution to the West's standoff with Iran over the country's nuclear energy program, Mohammad Javad Zarif said on his Facebook page.

Zarif said the expert-level talks held in December with the six country yielded positive results.

He said talks will move forward with "seriousness and a strong political will," adding that a comprehensive solution can be reached if all sides are committed to the landmark deal.

Some of the Western countries suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon -something that Iran denies. Iran has on numerous occasions stated that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, wanting nuclear energy for medical research instead.