Iran nuclear deal possible within six months: Zarif

Eurasia News

BERLIN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that his country can strike a deal on its nuclear program with six major world powers within six months.

“With good will we can reach an agreement within six months,” Zarif told an audience at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin on Monday.

The Iranian foreign minister further said that he was not worried about the US Congress trying to impose new sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

“I don’t fear a decision in the US Congress. The US president has promised to veto it,” Zarif said.

The next round of nuclear talks between Iran and six major world powers will take place in the Austrian capital of Vienna on February 18.

On November 24, Iran with the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany struck a historic nuclear deal in Geneva to pave the way for the full resolution of the decade-old dispute over its nuclear energy program. The deal came to force on January 20.

As part of the deal which would last for the six-month period only, the world powers agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against Iran, in exchange for Tehran’s confidence-building bid to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities.