Iranian Foreign Minister seeks progress in talks with Kerry

Iranian Foreign Minister seeks progress in talks with Kerry

PanARMENIAN.Net - "I think it's important. I think it will show the readiness of the two parties to move forward and to speed up the process," Zarif said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said his pending meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday was important to see if progress could be made in narrowing differences on his country's disputed nuclear program, Reuters reported.

Zarif, asked whether the session was key to setting the stage for the more detailed nuclear negotiations this week, told reporters minutes before his encounter with Kerry in Geneva: "I think it's important. I think it will show the readiness of the two parties to move forward and to speed up the process."

Iran and six world powers including Washington have renewed their quest for an elusive nuclear deal after negotiators failed for the second time in November to meet a self-imposed deadline.

The sought-after agreement, whose new deadline is June 30, would gradually end sanctions imposed on Iran in exchange for verifiable curbs on its uranium enrichment program to ensure it cannot be put to developing nuclear bombs. Tehran says it wants only civilian nuclear energy.

Zarif, asked if he hoped they could reach agreement by July 1, said: “That's why we are here. We'll see.”

"I think we would have a much safer, much more prudent world if we were to engage in serious dialogue, serious debate about our differences, and then we will find out that what binds us together is far greater than what divides us," he said.

Kerry, accompanied by a team of U.S. negotiators including Acting Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, did not speak to reporters. Earlier on Wednesday, he held talks with the UN mediator for Syria, Staffan De Mistura, in the Swiss city.

Zarif, asked by reporters about the latest Charlie Hebdo cover depicting the Prophet Mohammad following last week's deadly Islamist militant attack on the French satirical journal, said: "We believe that sanctities need to be respected.

"Unless we learn to respect one another, it will be very difficult in a world of different views and different cultures and civilizations, we won't be able to engage in a serious dialogue if we start disrespecting each other's values and sanctities," Zarif said.

Respecting such "sanctities" makes it easier to have respectful relations, he added, according to Reuters.

Al Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for the shooting attack on Charlie Hebdo, saying it was ordered by the Islamist militant group's leadership for insulting the Prophet Mohammad, according to a video posted on YouTube.

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