Iran's n-talks at vital stage

Iran's talks with six world powers on its nuclear programme are at a vital stage but no solution is yet in sight, Deputy Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi said Friday.

The talks are being held on the sidelines of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Press TV reported.

Araqchi said the Iranian negotiating team would continue to insist on Iran's rights and would not overstep the country's "redlines" in the talks.

Acknowledging that the two sides were still divided over "key issues", Araqchi said: "We will by no means leave the negotiating table, but will not retreat an iota from Iran's rights either."

He said that Iran was ready to accept solutions that would allay concerns over the country's nuclear energy programme provided that they took into consideration Tehran's rights and redlines.

According to Araqchi, no concrete progress has been made yet in the ongoing talks.

Iran and the the P5+1 group -- the US, Russia, China, France and Britain plus Germany -- are currently in talks to work out a final accord that would end the dispute over Tehran's civilian nuclear work.

On Thursday night, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, European Union's (EU) foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and US Secretary of State John Kerry held a meeting in New York to discuss progress made during the ongoing nuclear talks and to confer on how to proceed with the negotiations.

Zarif leads the Iranian negotiating team while Ashton heads the opposite side.

The two sides clinched an interim deal in Geneva, Switzerland, last November.

The agreement took effect Jan 20 and expired six months later. In July, they agreed to extend the negotiations until Nov 24 amid differences over a number of key issues.