Iran and world powers met on Saturday for the second and final day of new talks aimed at breaking a decade-old deadlock over Tehran’s nuclear drive, with the clock again ticking down again on efforts to find a solution.
The two sides held an indecisive first day of negotiations in the Kazakh city of Almaty on Friday that ended with only an agreement to meet again and Western officials admitting the positions were still far apart.
They most notably failed to resolve the main issue on the table -- whether Iran will accept some demands concerning its nuclear programme in return for relief on the sanctions that have hurt the Islamic republic’s economy in the past two years.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton started the day Saturday by meeting chief Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili.
“During Ms Ashton and Dr Saeed Jalili’s meeting this morning the latest situation of the negotiations and different aspects of each side’s stances were discussed in detail,” said an Iranian official.