Tehran: Talks on a protracted row over Iran`s nuclear ambitions resume this week in Geneva, with Tehran announcing a visit by the UN atomic watchdog chief to try to clinch a deal.
The so-called P5+1 group of major powers will meet Iran`s nuclear team on Thursday and Friday for the latest round of negotiations revived after the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a reputed moderate.
Both sides hope to build on a meeting last month hailed as "substantive" by all sides, at which Iran`s delegation outlined a new proposal and met bilaterally with the US for the first time since 2009.
The United States is part of the P5+1, which includes Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany.
According to Iranian officials, the proposal -- whose details have been kept under wraps -- envisages a first and a last step which Tehran hopes can be implemented within three months and a year respectively.
Iran`s lead negotiator in Geneva, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, said yesterday that a "negotiation framework" had been agreed.
"Our expectation now is to begin discussions on content and then move towards an agreement on content," Araqchi told the ISNA news agency.
The Islamic republic is also hoping to push forward talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Today, Iran`s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said IAEA head Yukiya Amano would visit Tehran.
Salehi said that he had "invited Amano to visit Tehran on November 11 and he expressed his willingness to come", adding that he hoped "to reach an agreement with (Amano) and issue a joint statement".
Ten rounds of talks with the IAEA since November 2011 have made little headway on the decade-long stand-off over the nuclear programme, but Rouhani`s election has sparked optimism.
But while the atmosphere has also been positive at the P5+1 talks, conducted in English for the first time, key differences remain as Iran seeks relief from crippling international sanctions.
A senior Western diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity said after the last round of talks in Geneva that an immediate solution was not in sight.
"The differences remain very large in terms of what the steps should include," the source said.
Technical discussions were held last week in Vienna at the level of experts to prepare for the political meeting this week.
