Official says positions between Iran, world powers differ widely

PanARMENIAN.Net - Positions between Iran and world powers differ widely on some areas but Iranian negotiators seem very committed to reach an agreement on the country's nuclear program, a senior EU official said in an email on Thursday, March 20, according to Reuters.

The brief email from European Union official Helga Schmid to senior officials of EU member states was written after a meeting between Iran and the powers - the United States, France, Germany, China, Russia and Britain - in Vienna on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Schmid is the deputy of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who is coordinating talks with Iran on behalf of the six nations. The negotiations are aimed at reaching a final settlement of a decade-old dispute over Iran's atomic activities, which Tehran says are peaceful but the West fears may be aimed at developing a nuclear weapons capability.

"Since we are at an early stage of the final and comprehensive negotiations, we still have a lot of work ahead of us. On some areas positions differ widely," the email said, according to Reuters.

"However, the impression is that the Iranian negotiators remain very committed to reach a comprehensive solution within the agreed 6-month period," it said, referring to a late July deadline for a long-term deal agreed in an interim accord struck in November.