Tehran's heavy water reactor at Arak, one of the key issues in the talks, has been 'virtually resolved', according to vice-president

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

The next round of expert-level talks over Iran's contested nuclear programme will be held in New York, the country's state news agency reported on Sunday.

During the 5-9 May meeting, the P5+1 world powers and Iran will start "writing draft of comprehensive agreements which will be a complex and difficult work", said senior nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi, according to IRNA.

Hamid Baeedinejad, director general for the political and international affairs department of Iran's Foreign Ministry, will head Iran's team at talks on the sidelines of the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review preliminary committee meeting, IRNA said.

The report came a day after Iran's vice-president, Ali Akbar Salehi, was quoted by state television as saying one of the key issues in the talks, the capacity of Iran's heavy water reactor at Arak, has been “virtually resolved”.



Salehi added: “Iran has offered a proposal to … redesign the heart of the Arak facility and these six countries have agreed to that."

Also on Saturday, a spokeswoman for Iran's foreign ministry said a US decision to seize and sell a Manhattan skyscraper owned by an Iran charity lacked "legal justification and negates America's commitment to protecting its citizens' religious freedom”.



The same day, Iranian officials said a US-registered plane which landed in Tehran earlier in the week, causing international comment given US sanctions against Iran, had been being used by a mining delegation from Ghana. It was later reported that the aircraft was leased to a mining company, Engineers and Planners (E&P), founded by the Ibrahim Mahama – a multi-millionaire and brother of Ghana's president, John Mahama.

On Sunday, E&P released a statement which said: "The said trip was made in conformity with all international aviation laws.”

The statement added: "We wish to also state that the President of the Republic of Ghana, HE John Dramani Mahama, has never been transported by the said aircraft.”

Neither issue was expected to affect the nuclear talks, which reached an interim deal in November. The US, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia have agreed a 20 July deadline with Iran to clinch a long-term deal that would allow a gradual lifting of all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran over its atomic programme.

Under the interim deal, Iran agreed to cap its nuclear programme in return for the easing of some financial sanctions.

Any May talks would be the first time in years that Iran and the west had held talks on the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme in New York.

