The United States, Iran envoys to focus on deal in weekend talks

The United States, Iran envoys to focus on deal in weekend talks

 

[caption id="attachment_20958" align="alignnone" width="600"] (The United States and Iranian diplomats plan to meet in Switzerland as efforts intensify to reach a comprehensive nuclear agreement. (File photo: AP))[/caption]

 

The top the United States and Iranian diplomats plan to meet this weekend in Switzerland as efforts intensify to reach a comprehensive nuclear accord.

 

Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will hold talks Saturday in Geneva.

 

State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said Wednesday that the goal is to make progress toward an agreement by an end-of-June.

 

European and Iranian officials have suggested the talks may require more time, but Rathke said the United States isn’t considering an extension.

 

The State Department said Wednesday that its lead nuclear negotiator, Undersecretary Wendy Sherman, will leave when the negotiations with Iran are finished.

 

Sherman has led much of the technical discussion in Europe with Iranian officials over the last two years.

 

During her tenure the United States and Iran reached an interim agreement in November 2013 and a framework pact in April.

 

Kerry called Sherman a “critical” member of his team, hailing her “tenacity and skill”.

 

Kerry leaves Washington on Thursday for Nigeria, where he’ll attend Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential inauguration.

 

(By The Associated Press | Washington)

 

(Al Arabiya News, 28 Thursday May 2015 The Roman)