Iran and the United States will hold their first direct talks in decades later this week, in a move toward securing a comprehensive nuclear deal between Tehran and the West.
The meetings will be held in Geneva, with the US delegation being led by Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns and Undersecretary Wendy Sherman, who is responsible for Iran negotiations.
Iran will be represented at vice foreign minister level in what is the most senior direct bilateral contact on the nuclear issue so far.
A senior US administration official said the latest developments signal that “the talks are intensifying.”
President Hassan Rouhani, a self-declared moderate elected last June, spoke by telephone with Obama shortly after taking office.
Such a step had not occurred since the revolution and would have been considered unthinkable under former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who had no love lost for the west.
*photo “iranreview”
