Russia says Iran talks at their most difficult phase

UFA, Russia - Reuters

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond (L), U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (2nd L ) and China's Deputy Foreign Minister Li Baodong (3rd L), Cheng Jingye (4th L), Ambassador and Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov (5th R), French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (4th R), European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini (3rd R) and Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter

Nuclear talks between Iran and the world's six major powers have entered their most difficult phase, but all involved parties are working on new proposals submitted by Tehran, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on July 9.

"These talks are like alpinists claiming a peak: 95 percent of the way has been completed, but there are still several steps, the last few metres (which are) the most difficult," Ryabkov told journalists on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Ufa. 

Iran has offered some new solutions to resolve the disputes in the nuclear talks on Juky 8, but Western officials suggested they had heard nothing new from Tehran.