Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, right, points at the beginning of a joint press conference with his Italian counterpart Emma Bonino in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013. Iran’s foreign minister is urging the world powers to avoid “trouble-making” issues as expert-level talks continue over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Mohammad Javad Zarif, Emma Bonino
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, right, and his Italian counterpart Emma Bonino pose for a photograph after their joint press conference in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013. Iran’s foreign minister is urging the world powers to avoid “trouble-making” issues as expert-level talks continue over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Mohammad Javad Zarif
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, adjusts his glasses as he speaks during a joint press conference with his Italian counterpart Emma Bonino in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013. Iran’s foreign minister is urging the world powers to avoid “trouble-making” issues as expert-level talks continue over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Emma Bonino
Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino attends a joint press conference with her Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013. Iran’s foreign minister is urging the world powers to avoid “trouble-making” issues as expert-level talks continue over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister Sunday urged the world powers to avoid “troublemaking” issues as expert-level talks continue over its contested nuclear program.
Mohammad Javad Zarif made the comment in a joint news conference with Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino. He also expressed hope the talks will conclude “sooner or later,” though he said the current expert-level talks in Geneva are “slowly” moving forward.
“All parties should avoid addressing issues that could be troublemaking,” Zarif said. He did not elaborate.
Also Sunday, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state television from Geneva that the talks have faced trouble. He said there are “incorrect interpretations” in settling a protocol to implement the deal. He suggested there might need to be a “pause in the talks.”
“Priorities should be decided to make it clear what actions should be first and what should be done later,” Araghchi said. “But the principle of simultaneous actions by both sides is a main dominant standard in the talks.”
In November, Iran agreed to cap its uranium enrichment in return for the West easing sanctions. The West fears Iran is pursuing nuclear weapon. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes like power generation and medical research.
