Western Foreign Ministers Discuss Iran in Paris

A spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry said on Friday, March 15, that the foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France, and Germany, along with the EU's foreign policy chief, will meet on Saturday in Paris to discuss negotiations with Iran. According to Xinhua News Agency, Romain Nadal stated that the discussions in Paris will focus on the negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear program. He added that the positions of both sides are far apart, but serious negotiations are ongoing in this regard. The report mentions that Laurent Fabius, the French Foreign Minister, Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German Foreign Minister, and Philip Hammond, the British Foreign Minister, will be present at the Paris talks. Two other members of the P5+1 group, namely Russia and China, will not attend the Paris negotiations. Negotiations aimed at reaching a comprehensive political agreement by March 24 between Iran and the P5+1 group, especially the United States, have been held in recent weeks. Following a temporary agreement reached in 2013 in Geneva, Iran and the P5+1 group are currently negotiating for a final and comprehensive agreement. The final deadline for reaching a comprehensive agreement is set for June of this year (July 9). In recent days, both negotiating parties have spoken of progress in these negotiations, but they have also emphasized that some differences remain. In this context, Laurent Fabius also stated on Friday that he supports a definitive agreement, "but there are currently problems." He deemed the progress made as insufficient and stated that there are still issues regarding the dimensions of the commitments Iran will accept, the duration of these commitments, and how to monitor their implementation, indicating that more work needs to be done.