The political directors of the six international mediators (five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany) will hold the next round of talks with Iranian representatives on the Iranian nuclear programme in Geneva on January 18.
The head of the Russian delegation is Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. The Iranian delegation is headed by Deputy Foreign Ministers Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takht Ravanchi. Ryabkov met with his Iranian counterparts in Geneva on Saturday evening.
It will be the second round of talks after it was decided to prolong the talks till June 30, 2015. The previous round took place in Geneva on December 17, 2014.
Bilateral consultations between the Iranian and U.S. delegations have continued for several days. On January 14, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The talks continued for about seven hours. The next day, the consultations resumed on the level of political directors.
On January 15, Zarif met in Berlin with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Later, Zarif went to Brussels, where he met with European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini. A new meeting between Zarif and Kerry took place in Paris on January 16 and lasted for about an hour. The same day, Zarif met with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. The results of the meetings are expected to be presented at the next round of talks on Sunday.
American senators have proposed to impose new sanctions against Iran if no agreement is reached on the Iranian nuclear programme by June 30. U.S. President Barack Obama also said that Washington would have to consider other ways if diplomacy fails to achieve the goal.