International Atomic Energy Agency
Iran has agreed to renew its talks with the international community in Washington over the country’s nuclear programme in the course of November, diplomats in Vienna have said.
They say the fresh discussions will be a precursor to talks on a final settlement with world powers – to be held before the end of June.
Iran has accused world powers of imposing unreasonable preconditions to continuing talks.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, said on Tuesday that Iran was not doing enough to clear up suspicions of its nuclear weapons activity.
Iran claims it is only seeking to make nuclear energy for civilian purposes.
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the US, China, Russia, France and Britain – plus Germany, are currently holding talks in Vienna over a possible resolution to the decade-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
The six countries are seeking a compromise deal under which Iran would limit the amount of uranium that it can enrich.
If the talks succeed, then Iran will be able to rejoin the global economic system after more than a decade of sanctions imposed on it, most notably through restrictions on its oil exports.
Mr Johnson said on Tuesday that Iran had not “done enough” to deal with suspicions that it was seeking nuclear weapons.
Asked whether Iran would be doing enough to end the dispute by the end of the meeting in Vienna on 24 June, Mr Johnson said: “We haven’t seen, in the past, that these things take off overnight.”
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is leading the Islamic Republic’s team at the talks, said Iran wanted “firm commitments from the other side” before the end of the June deadline.
(c) Sky News 2019: Iran agrees to resume nuclear talks before the end of November