Iran’s Deputy FM Rejects Possibility of Zarif-Kerry Bilateral Meeting


Iran’s Deputy FM Rejects Possibility of Zarif-Kerry Bilateral Meeting

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry will not hold any bilateral meeting in Geneva, Iran’s deputy foreign minister announced.

According to Tasnim dispatches, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi, who is also the country’s senior negotiator in the ongoing nuclear talks between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) in Geneva, excluded the possibility that there will be a bilateral meeting between Iran’s foreign minister and his American counterpart.

Meanwhile, there have been reports that a trilateral meeting among Zarif, Kerry and Ashton is due to take place which is expected to revolve around unilateral sanctions imposed by the West against Tehran.

“Zarif will meet foreign ministers of France, Germany and Britain after his meeting with Ashton,” Araqchi added.

A bilateral meeting between Mohammad Javad Zarif and the European Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton, who chairs the representatives of the six world powers, ended in Geneva this evening.

During the meeting, Ashton briefed the Iranian counterpart about the outcomes of consultations among the representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Russia, China, the US, Britain, France - plus Germany.

Araqchi further noted that the negotiations could be dragged out longer for a few hours.

He also made it clear that a draft agreement between the two sides would include the degree and level of uranium enrichment by the Islamic Republic.

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