Iran nuclear talks move towards historic point

Photo taken on March 29, 2015 shows the general view of the plenary session on Iran's potential nuclear framework deal in Lausanne, Switzerland. Foreign ministers from major world powers on Sunday night kicked off a plenary session to further bridge gaps on Iran's potential nuclear framework deal. [Photo/Xinhua]

LAUSANNE - As the March 31 deadline approaches, delegates from the P5+1 countries and Iran on Sunday continued their intensive negotiations to reach an understanding which could pave way for the final resolution of the long disputed Iranian nuclear issue.

The Russian, Chinese and UK foreign ministers joined the negotiations on Sunday, following French and German foreign ministers' Saturday arrival in the Swiss city of Lausanne.

During a one-hour bilateral talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on all sides to seize the opportunity to show flexibility and strong political will to push the Iranian nuclear negotiations into fruition.

"Important progress have been made in the Iranian nuclear talks, and it is in every party's interests to reach a common ground," the Chinese top diplomat said.

During his talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Wang called on all sides to seek negotiation room amid focused sticking points, and to bridge gaps to find solutions which are acceptable to all parties.

Throughout Sunday, Wang also held intensive bilateral talks with his counterparts from France, Germany, the EU and Russia.

With the presence of the foreign ministers of the world's major countries, all parties seem to agree that reaching an understanding by the end of March would be a pivotal step towards signing a final agreement by the June 30 deadline.

According to a senior diplomat source, key sticking points at this point include the details of when and how the lifting of UN and bilateral sanctions should be arranged in return for Iran's assurance to curb nuclear-related activities.

Also Iran's nuclear research and development ambitions and its nuclear enriching facilities in certain places remained a critical dispute to be addressed in the Lausanne talks.