(Reuters) – Six world powers and Iran have suspended their expert-level talks on implementing a landmark nuclear deal until after Christmas, a spokeswoman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Sunday.
Experts from the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany and Iran met in Geneva between Thursday and Sunday to settle the practical details of the accord, which obliges Tehran to suspend its most sensitive nuclear work.
They need to decide when the November 24 deal goes into effect, meaning when Iran has to fulfil its obligations and Western governments ease some economic sanctions in return.
A key sticking point appears to be how much advance information Western governments will get so they can verify that Iran is meeting its end of the deal before they lift any sanctions.
The spokeswoman for Ashton, who oversees diplomacy with Iran on behalf of the six nations, did not say how much progress, if any, had been made towards resolving the numerous technical aspects of the deal in the four days of talks.
“There will be a break in technical talks over Christmas,” Maja Kocijancic said. “We expect that technical talks will resume before the New Year.”
