Negotiators from four countries, EU to meet Iran n-programme

Paris, March 7: French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will meet his counterparts from the US, Germany, Britain as well as EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Saturday to discuss Iran nuclear programme, a ministry's official has said.

At a daily press briefing, Romain Nadal, Quai d'Orsay's spokesperson, said on Saturday's talks in the French capital "will be mainly devoted to the negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme," Xinhua reported.

"The positions are still far apart, but negotiations are continuing and they are serious," he added.

In exchange for limited sanctions relief, Iran accepted in 2013 to halt enriching uranium above 5 percent, reactor-grade, and dilute its stock of 20-percent enriched uranium or convert it to oxide, which makes it harder to enrich further.

The six powers, the US, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia had extended the deadline to the end of June to forge a final and comprehensive agreement after differences over the number of centrifuges Tehran can keep clouded previous talks and extended negotiations for another several months.

The West suspects Tehran of building a nuclear power, allegations that Iran has repeatedly denied.

IANS