Negotiator: Iran-world powers talks running smoothly

A senior Iranian nuclear negotiator on Sunday said the talks between Iran and the six major world powers have not come to a deadlock as such important and vital negotiations over long-standing disputes do not usually experience sudden progress. “The talks with the West has neither failed nor reached a deadlock. The negotiations continue, although we achieved no tangible progress - which is not unusual,” said Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi. “In the course of the negotiations we seek to establish Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, including the enrichment (right), and eliminate the excuses for exerting more pressures on Iran,” he said. The Iranian diplomat argued that Tehran has entered the negotiations from the position of strength since the country has acquired all the required technology and facilities for full nuclear fuel cycle. Iran and the six world powers wrapped up their fourth round of talks in Vienna last week. The seven nations have been discussing ways to iron out differences and start drafting a final deal that would end the West’s dispute with Iran over the country’s nuclear energy program. Iran said there has been no tangible progress in writing the draft text of the agreement and it blamed the US for the failure, saying Washington has made excessive demands beyond the agreements made in the previous rounds of talks. In November 2013, the two sides signed an interim nuclear deal in the Swiss city of Geneva that came into force on January 20.