First Iran-P5+1 Draft to Contain Blank Sections, Says Araqchi

A senior Iranian negotiator says the first draft of a deal between Iran and the P5+1 countries on Tehran’s nuclear program will contain gaps requiring further decisions.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi made the comment in an interview with IRIB on the sidelines of the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in New York.

Araqchi said Iran and the P5+1 countries, represented by EU political director Helga Schmid, have officially started drawing up the draft of a final nuclear agreement.

He expressed hope that within the next days the sides would be able to write the first draft of the overarching deal “which includes all points.”

“It will be a tough task. This first draft will be full of disputed issues and will include parentheses and brackets, and decisions should be made about them in the future,” Araqchi said.

Experts from Iran and the six global powers are examining the details, he said, noting that a two-month period has been envisaged for writing the draft.

Iran and the P5+1 countries seek to reach a draft agreement in New York no matter how many days it will take, the official said, adding the next round of talks would continue in Europe.

Araqchi noted that the main agenda of the Iranian negotiating team in New York focused on the NPT review conference.

The Iranian negotiators, however, have held nuclear talks with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano and US Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the New York event, Araqchi said.

Iran and the P5+1 group of countries – the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China plus Germany – reached a mutual understanding on Tehran’s nuclear program in the Swiss city of Lausanne on April 2.

The two sides held expert-level talks in Vienna, Austria, on April 24. The three-day talks were held in a bid to draft the text of a final agreement based on the mutual understanding reached in Lausanne.

Iran and the six-party group have agreed to finalize a comprehensive deal on Tehran’s nuclear program by the end of June.

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