Arak nuclear reactor, main obstacle in nuclear talks
By Sara Rajabova
The Iranian nuclear negotiators have discussed the outstanding issues in Tehran's nuclear talks with the P5+1 group in separate bilateral meetings with representatives of Russia and the United States.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi and Deputy Foreign Minister for Europe and the Americas Majid Takht-e Ravanchi held two hours of nuclear talks with their Russian counterpart Sergei Ryabkov in New York on September 18, Press TV reported.
The two Iranian diplomats also sat down with U.S. Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman and Deputy Secretary of State William Burns to exchange views on the progress of nuclear discussions between Iran and the P5+1 - the U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov told RIA Novosti that the future of the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor remains one of the main obstacles in the nuclear talks between the P5+1 group of mediators and Tehran.
Ryabkov noted that the problem of Iran's nuclear centrifuges also remains an issue of concern, adding that during the previous rounds of Iranian nuclear talks the negotiators agreed that Iran has to limit its uranium enrichment to five percent.
"It feels like there is a common understanding that every effort has to be made to reach an agreement," Ryabkov said.
Also the Iranian and U.S. technician delegations held over three hours of talks on September 18 aimed at decreasing the remaining differences of opinion, led by Hamid Baeidinejad on Iran's side and Jim Tumby on the U.S. side.
The bilateral Iran-U.S. talks were the 3rd round of their official negotiations within the past two months on remaining disputed issues in Iran's nuclear program, in which the two sides have negotiated for dozens of hours.
The diplomats in New York evaluate these talks as fruitful in terms of increasing both sides' understanding of each other's stands, but the informed sources believe the differences still remain in place and the achieved progress is not noteworthy.
The preparatory meetings come as Iran and the six states are set to officially kick off their seventh round of negotiations this year on the country's nuclear energy program. The plenary talks will be held on September 19 on the sidelines of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Last November, Tehran and its negotiating partners signed an interim deal in Geneva, which took effect on January 20 and expired six months later. In July, the two sides agreed to extend the negotiations until November 24 this year after they failed to reach common ground on a number of key issues.