WASHINGTON: The United States said on Saturday it will send its diplomat to Geneva to meet senior Iranian officials on Monday and Tuesday in what appeared an effort to break a logjam in wider negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program.
Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns, who led secret US-Iranian negotiations that helped bring about a Nov. 24 interim nuclear agreement between Iran and the major powers, will head a US delegation.
Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, the primary US negotiator with Iran, will accompany him on a team that will include senior White House national security staff.
The most recent round of nuclear talks between Iran and six major powers in Vienna last month ran into difficulties, with each side accusing the other of having unrealistic demands in negotiations aimed at curbing Tehran's atomic program in exchange for an end to economic sanctions.
The US decision to travel to Geneva and meet with the Iranian delegation, which a senior US official said might be led by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, appeared to reflect Washington's desire to try to break the deadlock.
"In order to really seriously test whether we can reach a diplomatic solution with Iran on its nuclear program, we believe we need to engage in very active and very aggressive diplomacy," the senior US official told Reuters.
Comments
Comments are closed.