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Russia, China push for consensus on Iran nuclear deal
November 24, 2014, 6:52 am

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks to the media outside Palais Coburg, the venue of nuclear talks in Vienna, Austria, on Nov. 22, 2014 [Xinhua]

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks to the media outside Palais Coburg, the venue of nuclear talks in Vienna, Austria, on Nov. 22, 2014 [Xinhua]

China, Russia, US, Britain, France and Germany have began a final round of talks, looking to seal a deal with Iran, under which Iran will limit its nuclear capability in exchange for an easing of international economic sanctions on the country.

China’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency said in the Austrian capital of Vienna that gaps remain in defining the scale of Iran’s uranium enrichment.

Monday marks the deadline for an agreement to be reached by the world’s most powerful countries with Iran on the latter’s nuclear programme.

“We’ve been in close contact with the US, Iran as well as Russia and other world powers. Many issues such as gas is also on the table and being discussed throughout the negotiation. The aim for us is to facilitate each party to reach a concensus as much as possible, and China is playing a constructive role in pushing the talks forward,” says Cheng Jingye, Chinese ambassador to International Atomic Energy Agency.

In Vienna, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry have “exchanged opinions on what steps could be made to maximally contribute to the achievement of a comprehensive settlement of the situation around Iran’s nuclear program”, said a Russian Foreign Ministry statement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to have a phone conversation on Monday with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, Lavrov said on Sunday during his meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

“Tomorrow, he [Putin] plans to talk to Rouhani, the administrations are in touch,” Lavrov said.

Iran says its atomic aspirations are peaceful and it needs nuclear power to generate electricity, but Western powers led by the United States claim Iran’s hidden aim is to create nuclear weapons.

Incidentally, Iran is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which seeks to curb the spread of nuclear weapons.

On the other hand, India, which first tested a nuclear weapon in 1974, is still refusing to sign the NPT. That means New Delhi’s military nuclear programme is not subject to inspections by the IAEA, the United Nations nuclear watchdog.

 

TBP and Agencies