Nuclear talks to continue on May 12: Iranian diplomat

A senior Iranian negotiator says talks over Iran’s nuclear program will continue on May 12 in the Austrian capital Vienna.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araghchi made the remarks in an interview with IRIB on Tuesday night following four days of intensive negotiations in New York.

Negotiations with EU Political Director Helga Schmid will start on May 12 and representatives of P5+1 would join the talks on May 15 to complete the process of drafting a final agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, Araghchi said.

The Iranian official added that the drafting process is moving on well but slowly, and expressed hope that a final deal could be reached even before an end of June deadline.

Araghchi noted that immediately after a possible final agreement all economic and financial sanctions will be removed, and Iran will increase the level of its global cooperation in nuclear industries, such as building new nuclear plants and water desalination units with nuclear power.

He also insisted that his country would prefer no agreement to a bad agreement.

Iran and P5+1 – the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany – reached a mutual understanding on the parameters of a comprehensive agreement over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program in Lausanne, Switzerland, on April 2.