“We held talks in Luxembourg last week with ministers of the three European countries and it was decided that the ministers would meet in Vienna Saturday and Sunday. The meetings have been held and now the foreign ministers have all left Vienna, as was the reason for my return,” Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters upon arrival in Tehran.
He maintained that he would return to the Austrian capital on Tuesday morning.
Zarif also added that nuclear talks between experts from Iran and the 5+1 group of countries were underway in Vienna in an effort to reach a final deal.
Most foreign ministers participating at nuclear talks in Vienna have already headed back to their respective countries. Only US Secretary of State John Kerry has decided to remain in the Austrian capital due to his leg injury.
Zarif and Kerry sat down for fresh nuclear discussions in Vienna in two rounds on Saturday and in a final round on Sunday.
Deputy foreign ministers as well as experts from both sides were also present in the Sunday session. The EU Deputy Foreign Policy Chief Helga Schmid was also attending the Saturday meetings.
“We’re determined to do everything we can in order to be able to get to this important milestone,” Zarif had told reporters ahead of his Saturday talks with Kerry, adding that hard work was needed to nail down a final nuclear deal.
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany are holding talks to finalize the text of a possible deal over Tehran’s nuclear program by the end of June.
While both sides insist there can be no lengthy extension of the negotiations, they have played down the significance of the June 30 deadline, saying that after more than a decade of talks, they can take a few extra days if needed. The negotiations were twice extended already in July and November 2014.
The two sides reached a mutual understanding on the key parameters of the potential deal in the Swiss city of Lausanne on April 2.
Your Comment