Iranian FM, EU's Ashton start meeting in Geneva

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton (who represents the delegations of the six world powers in the talks with Iran) started the second day of talks in Geneva on Thursday. Sources close to the negotiators said that if the talks between Zarif and Ashton yield results, talks on the text of an agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, Britain, France and China plus Germany) will start. The two officials had also held talks on Wednesday to discuss the latest developments before the start of the high-profile Iran-G5+1 negotiations. After holding talks with Ashton, Zarif said he held “good” negotiations with her, on the Iranian nuclear energy program in the Swiss city of Geneva. “We talked about the trend of negotiations between Iran and the P5+1,” Zarif told reporters on Wednesday after meeting Ashton. “We had a good conversation and discussed the ways we could continue this trend during these days of negotiations,” the top Iranian nuclear negotiator stated. Ashton chaired a meeting of the E3/EU+3 Political Directors ahead of her bilateral meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister on Wednesday. On November 7-9, Iran and the major world powers held three days of intense discussions in the Swiss city of Geneva. The two sides did not reach an agreement but stressed that significant progress had been made and expressed optimism about the prospect of a possible deal in the future.