By Ovunc Kutlu
ANKARA
Some key issues remain for ministers to discuss in nuclear talks between Iran and P5+1 countries, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi said Thursday.
"Expert-level negotiations on some topics have already concluded, and issues are under discussion at the level of deputies to foreign ministers," Ravanchi was quoted as saying by Iran's Tasnim News Agency.
On Wednesday, experts from all sides concluded drafting the text of a possible final comprehensive nuclear agreement, Tasnim said.
“We expect that some key issues would remain for ministers to deal with in the final days," he said in the Austrian capital Vienna, but did not elaborate on the topics of those issues.
The deputy foreign minister noted that Iran insists on sanctions removal as soon as a nuclear deal is implemented.
"We expect all economic, trade and financial sanctions to be terminated from the implementation day. Iran will implement its commitments at the same time that all these economic and financial sanctions will be terminated," Iran's news agency IRNA quoted him saying.
He also claimed that all sanctions by the UN Security Council will be lifted when the implementation day is reached, adding "We are in discussions as to what would be the next step as far as the UN sanctions are concerned."
The U.S. said earlier that sanctions on Iran would be lifted gradually to wait and see how much Iran would implement the conditions on a final nuclear agreement.
Ravanchi also explained that there will be not be a plenary session between the sides and that the nuclear negotiations will be held bilaterally.
Iranian foreign minister to stay in Vienna
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is reported by Tasnim to have scheduled separate meetings with his German and British counterparts Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Philip Hammond.
Zarif is also expected to have separate meetings with EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Thursday, according to Tasnim.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ravanchi also noted that foreign ministers will leave Vienna on Thursday, and the time of their return will be decided later.
Meanwhile, Zarif rejected speculation that he will return to Tehran and come back to Vienna after two days, according to IRNA.
The chief nuclear negotiator said he does not intend to return home, stressing "nuclear talks are proceeding well and moving forward."
The U.K.’s foreign minister, Philip Hammond, said Thursday that there has not been a breakthrough in the negotiations yet.
"What I would say is that the work is going on. We will do whatever we need to do to keep the momentum of the talks going," he said.
Germany’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier said there are still both big and small obstacles in the negotiations that have to be removed, and said "I am confident that all sides represented in Vienna intend to reach agreement," according to IRNA.
France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he hopes progress is made in the nuclear talks.
"There are points in which we have made progress, in other ones not yet. I am going to work for making progress," he said, according to IRNA.
EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini also affirmed that talks are progressing.
"We are moving forward, including also on the technical issues. But, we are not there yet. We will discuss some of the remaining critical issues later this day," IRNA quoted her saying.
Mogherini also called the visit of the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano, to Tehran as "very important."
Nuclear watchdog chief in Tehran
Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani met with Amano on Thursday, and said Iran will continue cooperating with IAEA closely to resolve the remaining problems in Iran's nuclear issue.
He emphasized that any sustainable deal should satisfy both Iran and the P5+1 group.
Shamkhani said Iran’s interaction with international bodies and organizations will be based on “conventional and legal procedures, and the implementation of undertakings accepted by the country," according to Tasnim.
IAEA's director general Amano stressed that continued mutual cooperation between the two sides is necessary to find a common solution to existing issues in the talks.
He also offered certain proposals to speed up the cooperation process to resolve the remaining issues in the negotiations, according to Tasnim.
Amano is scheduled to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani later in the day.
The deadline of the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group was postponed Tuesday and the sides now have until June 7 to wrap up a final comprehensive agreement.
