US Secretary of State John Kerry waits for the start of a trilateral meeting at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne on March 28, 2015. (AFP/File)
Secretary of State John Kerry has canceled his return to the US so that he can continue the talks over Iran’s nuclear program in Switzerland which are aimed at striking a final deal by the end of this month.
Kerry has cancelled plans to attend a key event in Boston on Monday to remain at the nuclear negotiations taking place in the Swiss city of Lausanne, the US State Department said Sunday.
"Secretary Kerry was very much looking forward to being a part of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute's dedication in Boston this week," said deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf.
However, "given the ongoing nuclear negotiations in Switzerland, the secretary regrets he will not be able to share this special time ... in person," Harf added.
Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif held another meeting on Sunday as the fifth day of the new round of nuclear talks has begun in Lausanne.
The Sunday meeting between the top Iranian and US diplomats comes as part of broader negotiations between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 countries.
Iran and the P5+1 countries - the US, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany - have been negotiating to reach a comprehensive deal on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. The two sides have set July 1 as the deadline for a final agreement.
The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi; Iranian deputy foreign ministers Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takht-e Ravanchi; Hossein Fereydoon, the special aide to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani; US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman are also present in the talks.
With French and German counterparts already in Switzerland, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russia's Sergei Lavrov as well as Britain's Philip Hammond were due to arrive later Sunday.
Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1GDDTW3
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