The Russian deputy foreign minister backed Iran’s call for the western parties to nuclear negotiations to avoid prolonging the talks with their obsession with tactical moves and instead concentrate on issues of substance. “We support the Iranian officials’ appeal (to the parties) to focus on the subject matter, rather than continuing tug of war between the delegations, which takes time.” Sputnik on Friday quoted Sergei Ryabkov as telling reporters. “We do not want long-term extensions of negotiations due to political reasons. I want to emphasize that it would be very wrong to reduce everything to tactical games and maneuvers in negotiations.” He also said foreign ministers of Iran and the major powers, including Russia, are likely to join the ongoing talks in Vienna sometime after June 25 before the June deadline for a deal.
