VIENNA, May 14 (UPI) -- The newest round of Iranian nuclear talks are underway in Vienna.
Delegates from the P5+1 countries -- the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (Britain, China, France, Russia, the U.S.) plus Germany -- are meeting with the Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Wednesday to work toward a comprehensive Iranian nuclear agreement.
On Monday, International Atomic Energy Agency officials met with Iranian representatives to discuss Iran's progress under the Framework for Cooperation, reporting afterward: "Iran has taken several actions and that some related work continues. Discussions on additional practical measures to be implemented in the next steps are ongoing."
As Wednesday's meeting began, Michael Mann, Ashton's spokesman, tweeted a photo of the delegates.
Latest round of E3/EU+3 talks with #Iran on Iran's nuclear programme begin at UN, #IranTalksVienna pic.twitter.com/Z1133eMXLM
— Michael Mann (@EUHighRepSpox) May 14, 2014
An unnamed senior U.S. official, speaking in advance of the meeting, acknowledged, "There are a range of complicated issues to address. And we do not know if Iran will be able to make the tough decisions they must to ensure the world that they will not obtain a nuclear weapon and that their program is fore entirely peaceful purposes, as they have said."