Third Day of Nuclear Negotiations; Kerry to Meet Zarif in Geneva

John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, will arrive in Geneva on Sunday, March 3, to discuss with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on the third day of the new round of nuclear negotiations. According to a reporter from Radio Farda in Geneva, Kerry's arrival has been slightly delayed, and he is expected to spend two days in Switzerland. One day before arriving in Geneva, Kerry emphasized in London that there are still 'significant differences' with Iran regarding its nuclear program. France's news agency reported that Helga Schmid, a representative of the European Union, will also join the talks to help advance them. The Iranian Foreign Minister stated that 'according to the country's officials,' the nuclear negotiations have reached a stage that requires serious decision-making at a high level. The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) quoted Zarif as saying that due to the importance of the ongoing negotiations in Geneva, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, has been requested to attend the discussions 'to ensure that the issues are examined clearly, precisely, and in detail.' Salehi spoke with Ernest Moniz, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, on Saturday. Hossein Fereydoun, the brother of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his senior advisor, is also present in Geneva, and the Iranian Foreign Minister mentioned that Fereydoun's presence was 'necessary for coordination with the presidency and the country.' Zarif emphasized that Iran will not accept an 'ambiguous and incomplete agreement,' stating that the U.S. views sanctions against Iran as 'capital' and that with the continuation of sanctions, reaching a nuclear agreement between the Islamic Republic and global powers is 'very difficult.' Meanwhile, the U.S. Secretary of State has warned that if an agreement is not reached with Iran within the set deadline, the United States is prepared to leave the nuclear negotiations. Iran and the 1+5 group, which includes the U.S., the UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China, have agreed to reach a comprehensive and final agreement on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program by July 1, 2015. According to this agreement, a general agreement is to be reached by the end of March (early April) to continue negotiations on the details based on it. The parties are expected to reach an understanding on the framework of the comprehensive agreement within approximately five weeks. This framework is based on seven items that Iran and the 1+5 agreed upon in the joint action document. These seven items include issues such as 'lifting unilateral and multilateral sanctions within an agreed timeframe' and 'the scope of uranium enrichment in Iran, focusing on the number of centrifuges, enrichment levels, and breakout time.' Breakout time is defined as the time Iran would need 'if it decides to produce a nuclear weapon.' In this context, Araqchi stated: 'The negotiations were positive and serious.' 'Technical negotiations' between Iran and the U.S. in Geneva have concluded.