U.S. to hold new nuclear talks with Iran in Geneva

American and Iranian officials will resume negotiations in Geneva this week as they seek to hammer out a full nuclear deal ahead of a November deadline, U.S. officials said. The U.S. team led by Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns and Under Secretary Wendy Sherman will meet with Iranian officials on Thursday and Friday in the Swiss city, the State Department said in a surprise late-night statement. Global powers and Iran agreed in late July to extend a deadline to reach a comprehensive and complex deal on curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions until November 24. The negotiations being led by a group known as the P5+1 had been expected to resume on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly later this month in New York.

These bilateral consultations will take place in the context of the P5+1 nuclear negotiations led by EU High Representative Cathy Ashton.

State Department statement

The West suspects Iran wants to acquire nuclear weapons but Tehran insists the program is purely for peaceful purposes. In exchange for accepting curbs on its nuclear activities, Iran wants a vast array of U.S., EU and United Nations sanctions to be lifted. But any deal will have to be approved by the Islamic leadership in Tehran as well as by the U.S. Congress, where many lawmakers are seeking to impose even greater sanctions on Iran.

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