GENEVA — Iran’s nuclear envoy in Geneva said Friday that an initial agreement has been reached on how to implement a nuclear deal with six world powers.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in comments to the official IRNA news agency, said world powers and the Iranian government should respond within two days about whether they accept the terms, which he did not reveal.
It maps out a first-step agreement for six months as diplomats from Iran and the so-called P5+1 — the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany — negotiate a permanent agreement. The five veto-wielding Security Council members are Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
The European Union, whose negotiators Catherine Ashton and Helga Schmid represent the P5+1, reported on Twitter that Araghchi and Schmid made very good progress “on all pertinent issues” related to implementing the Nov. 24 deal — which would require Iran to stop some of its nuclear activities in exchange for some sanctions being dropped.