The European Union said that negotiators for Iran and the six global powers striving to reach a complex deal on Tehran's nuclear programme had "serious and useful" discussions in Geneva this Sunday.
"The political directors of the "six" and Iran held a one-day meeting in Geneva on January 18 in the course of their diplomatic efforts to find a comprehensive solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.
They had serious and useful meetings chaired by EU political director Helga Schmid and decided to meet again in early February," RIA Novosti cites the message of the spokesman for the EU Delegation in Geneva.
Iran and the six international mediators (Russia, USA, UK, France, China and Germany) after nine hours of debate completed another round of talks in Geneva on Tehran's nuclear program. The parties didn't achieve any significant results, although many of the participants defined the talks as useful.
The Russian delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. According to him, the discussions "were deep and useful" and "will continue in the near future."
Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Arakhchi represented the Iranian side. He also noted the usefulness of the negotiations, stressing that "it is too early to judge the progress, but now we are trying to resolve differences."
The head of the French delegation, Nicolas de Riviere, Director-General for Political and Security Affairs at the French Foreign Ministry, noted the lack of tangible progress. "I do not think we have made a lot of progress," he admitted, noting that the Russian delegation played an important role in the negotiations.
