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Time Short for Nuclear Deal

Time Short for Nuclear Deal
Time Short for Nuclear Deal

There is practically no time left for reaching agreement on Iran's nuclear program, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Monday.

Ryabkov also said a new round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) on Tehran's nuclear program will be held after Iranian foreign minister's contacts with his negotiating partners.

"We hope that a concrete date… will become clear in 10-14 days," he told Itar-Tass.

****Non-Stop Talks Required

He said, "Almost no time is left. To meet a deadline of November 24 non-stop talks are needed."

"We are keeping in contact with the EU foreign policy chief’s office, and we are waiting for specific signals and are stimulating partners to settle the issue as quickly as possible," Ryabkov added.

The deputy foreign minister noted that the Iranian foreign minister is expected to meet with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, but "It is still unclear in which way this will be done."

"After this a full-format round of talks will be held with all delegations, including experts, meeting at one venue, but the work will be done within this round of talks in different ways."

"This depends on the need of the present moment. Quite probably the main load will be laid on participants in bilateral meetings and trilateral meetings…, but they are not held without plenary meetings all the same."

Therefore, all formats are envisaged, Ryabkov said, adding, "We are ready for work in any format."

In another article on Monday, Itar-Tass quoted Ryabkov as saying, "If (the parties) focus on the resolution of the main issues that remain unsettled after New York (referring to the latest round of talks held from September 19 to 26), they can do it on time.

"If we keep walking on the fringe of the negotiation field, then missing (the deadline) can be quite real. I would not like to consider this scenario because the main point in any negotiation is the ability to focus on the result. If we start mapping out alternative scenarios, we will distract ourselves from the main point."

Russia's representative at the nuclear talks said, "The date of the new round is being discussed. It was agreed in New York that the next two to three weeks would be spent to do the so-called home assignment, that is, to review what had been done and what needed to be done on a priority basis."

The diplomat also said, "Every passing week adds the feeling that we need to step things up, and this is what we are urging our partners, Iranians and other members of the P5+1, to do."

 

Financialtribune.com