Kerry's talks in Muscat, Oman
with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the EU's
Catherine Ashton are due to take place two weeks before a Nov. 24
deadline for Tehran and six major powers to reach a long-term agreement
on Iran's nuclear program.
The
high-level gathering is one of series of meetings in the final weeks
before the deadline. Before heading to Oman Ashton will meet senior
foreign ministry officials from the six powers - Britain, China, France,
Germany, Russia and the United States in Vienna on Nov. 7, Ashton's
spokesman Michael Mann said.
The
six will then begin meeting again with the full Iranian delegation in
Vienna on November 18, he added. EU coordinates the negotiations on
behalf of the six powers.
"The aim
of the talks is to reach a comprehensive agreement with Iran by Nov. 24,
under which it would reassure the international community about the
exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program," Mann said in a
statement.
Last week the top U.S.
negotiator in the Iran talks, Under-Secretary of State Wendy Sherman,
said Iran will be widely seen as responsible if a comprehensive deal to
curb its nuclear program is not reached.
Both
sides say they still aim to meet the Nov. 24 deadline for a deal,
despite doubts among many experts that they can reach an accord that
would end a decade-old dispute over Tehran's nuclear program with just a
few weeks remaining.
Relations
with the West have thawed since Hassan Rouhani was elected president
last year seeking to end Iran's international isolation, and the talks
are aimed at easing concerns about Tehran's atomic activities in
exchange for lifting economic sanctions.
But
Western officials say there are still differences in the positions of
the two sides, especially over the future scope of Iran's uranium
enrichment program, which can have civilian and military uses.
The
United States, France, Britain and Germany would like the number of
enrichment centrifuges Iran maintains to be in the low thousands, while
Tehran wants to keep tens of thousands in operation. It now has about
19,000 installed, of which about 10,000 are spinning to refine uranium.
Iran
and the six powers reached an interim deal last November under which
Tehran received limited sanctions relief in exchange for halting the
production of medium enriched uranium. That six-month accord took effect
early this year and was extended by four months in July.