Zarif terms Iran-G5+1 Nuclear standoff as manufactured crisis, but solvable

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, and said both Tehran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) are determined to put a final end to this unreal and purposeful standoff, according to FARS News Agency.

In a Monday tweet, Zarif said that the process of drafting is “moving forward” as the two sides are “determined to end this manufactured crisis & open new horizons”.

The Iranian top diplomat, however, stressed that “many brackets” still remain which need to resolved by hard work.

On Sunday, a ranking member of the Iranian team of nuclear negotiators, Hamid Baeidinejad, said Tehran and the six world powers (the US, Russia, China, France and Britain plus Germany) will continue drafting a final nuclear agreement in the coming days.

"The meetings for drafting the text of the nuclear understanding are being held day and night and will continue in the current (Iranian) week (which ends on Friday)," Baeidinejad said on his Instagram page.

He said that the negotiations on drafting a final deal are held at the level of political directors and experts of Iran and the Group 5+1.

Baeidinejad explained about the method used for reaching a single text on every issues during the talks, and said that the two sides first present their written proposals and in some cases use a video projector to elaborate on them and then both sides' texts are modified after long discussions until a single text that is agreed by all sides comes out.

"Those issued that are not agreed upon after discussions will be left in parentheses for further talks," he added.