File Photo: US Secretary of State John Kerry
US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday in New York, a senior State Department official said on Sunday.
The meeting on the sidelines of the five-year review conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that begins on Monday will come as the United States and five other global powers try to secure a final nuclear deal with Iran by a June 30 deadline.
Kerry will also meet on Monday with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, the State Department official said.
Under a tentative deal reached April 2 between Iran and the other countries, Tehran, which denies seeking nuclear weapons, agreed to slash the number of uranium enrichment centrifuges it operates and to allow more intrusive inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency in exchange for sanctions relief.
Diplomats need to iron out details about the timing of sanctions relief, the future of Iran's atomic research and development program, the exact nature of the IAEA's monitoring regime and what kind of uranium stockpile Tehran will be allowed to keep under any final deal.
US Republican senators have pledged to try to toughen a bill giving Congress the power to review a nuclear agreement with Iran.
© Thomson Reuters 2015