Iran and its negotiating partners are set to resume nuclear talks next week in Vienna.
"Arrangements are being made so that the talks resume… we will have bilateral and multilateral talks before the end of the next week in Vienna," IRNA quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Marzieh Afkham as saying on Wednesday.
She also said, "The two sides are trying to find a solution to the manufactured crisis over the country's nuclear program," adding, "There is agreement that the talks should continue and we are gaining a better understanding of the issues and differences."
****Consensus on Fundamental Issues
President Hassan Rouhani also said on Tuesday that there is "consensus between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) on fundamental issues and differences are over fine details."
The Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, US Secretary of State John Kerry, and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who coordinates nuclear talks on behalf of the six major powers, will hold a trilateral meeting in the Austrian capital on October 15.
Deputy Foreign Ministers Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takht-Ravanchi will also hold a meeting with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman on October 14.
The Associated Press also reported on Wednesday that another round of high-level nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 is expected after the trilateral meeting between Zarif, Kerry, and Ashton.
The discussions between Iran, the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China, and Germany are aimed at building on an interim nuclear accord they reached in Geneva last November to hammer out a long-term settlement to the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program, which has dragged on for over a decade. A November 24 target date has been set for a final nuclear deal.
Iran denies Western allegations that it may have been seeking to develop the capability to build nuclear weapons, saying its nuclear program is only meant for peaceful purposes, such as electricity generation and medical applications.
The latest round of high-level nuclear talks, which was held in New York from September 19 to 26, made no significant progress.
The main sticking points in the talks are the underground Fordo uranium enrichment facility, the Arak heavy-water reactor, the mechanism of lifting sanctions, the duration of the final agreement, and the number of centrifuge machines that Tehran would maintain under the deal.
Iranian officials say it is possible to strike a deal by November 24 if the other side drops "excessive demands".
