Kerry to hold three-way Geneva talks with Iran FM, Ashton

US Secretary of State John Kerry will hold three-way talks later Friday with Iran’s Mohammad Javad Zarif and the EU’s Catherine Ashton as they push for a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme,according to Voice of Russia.

“In an effort to help narrow the differences in negotiations, Secretary Kerry will travel to Geneva, Switzerland, today at the invitation of EU High Representative Ashton to hold a trilateral meeting with High Representative Ashton and Foreign Minister Zarif on the margins of the P5+1 negotiations,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

She was referring to talks which resumed on Thursday between Iran and the six so-called P5+1 powers – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany.

Plenary session to open second day of P5+1 talks with Iran

The first day of negotiations between the P5+1 (the UN Security Council’s five permanent members plus Germany) and Iranian officials took place on Thursday, an Iranian delegation source told reporters.

“The first day of talks is already over. The next day will start with a plenary session,’ he said. November 7 saw the sides’ first plenary session and a series of bilateral talks, including Tehran’s planned bilateral meetings with the delegations representing the European Union, Russia, China and the United States.

The ongoing round of negotiations between the P5+1 and Tehran officials concerning the Iranian nuclear problem opened in Geneva on Thursday.

R.S