Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

In a time when the world powers and Iran are holding fresh nuclear talks over the text of a potential comprehensive deal to end the decade-long nuclear dispute, Russia has expressed concern over slow progress in the negotiations.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the ongoing talks between Iran and the P5+1 on drafting the text of a final deal over Tehran’s nuclear program have lost momentum.

Ryabkov voiced Moscow’s concern about a slowdown in the progress of Iran nuclear talks as the sides are still in a deadlock over remaining key issues, including the lifting of sanctions and access to Iranian facilities, Sputnik reported.

"Unfortunately, the progress pace…is slowing down. It worries us more and more because the time left to the deadline is getting short, and we must step on the final stretch as soon as possible," Ryabkov told reporters upon arriving in Vienna for a fresh round of negotiations at the level of political directors.

Nuclear negotiators from Iran and P5+1 countries – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany – are seeking to finalize a comprehensive deal on Tehran’s nuclear program by June 30.

However, the sides still cannot bridge gaps to resolve some major differences, including the sequencing of sanctions relief and access to Iranian nuclear sites for international monitors.

While Tehran demands the removal of sanctions immediately after clinching a final nuclear deal, some negotiating countries, mainly the U.S., back the gradual lifting of sanctions.

The P5+1 countries are urging Iran to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to enter its military facilities, but Tehran is staunchly opposed, claiming that these demands are not related to its nuclear program.

The U.S. has called on Iran to address longstanding IAEA questions about the "possible military dimensions," of its nuclear program before 2003.

In response, Reza Najafi, Iran's representative to the IAEA, has claimed that the U.S. intelligence agencies have forged documents relating to the Iranian nuclear program.

Najafi called the allegations of the possible military aspects of Iran's nuclear program as groundless, saying that the Islamic Republic does not recognize the charge, IRNA reported on June 12.

Najafi reiterated Tehran's stance that some of the IAEA's documents supporting concerns about PMD are intelligence fabrications. He also repeated that there will be little progress in the IAEA's inquiry into Iran's nuclear past unless the agency stops using these documents.

“In order to prove it, Iran is ready to provide the UN agency-controlled access to objects in the western part of the country. This issue shows that the agency has been provided with false information,” Najafi said.

IAEA Director General Yukio Amano said on June 8 that the UN inspectors should be allowed on to Iranian military facilities, in order to prove the peaceful nature of its nuclear program.

Amano had previously stated that a potential deal between Iran and international powers could grant the IAEA a right to inspect the country’s military sites if Tehran joins the Additional Protocol to the IAEA Safeguards Agreement.

The nuclear talks between senior representatives from Iran and the P5+1 countries are underway in the Austrian capital of Vienna over the text of a potential comprehensive deal between the two sides.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Ministers, Seyyed Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takht-e Ravanchi, sat down for another session of nuclear talks with European Union Deputy Foreign Policy chief Helga Schmid on June 11.

Diplomats from Iran and world powers started a new round of nuclear negotiations in Vienna on June 12.

The two sides reached mutual understanding on the fundamental parameters of a final accord in Lausanne, Switzerland, on April 2, and have since been working on the text of the deal.

--

Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz