Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan said on Tuesday that Iran appeared to be stalling in talks with global powers to salvage a nuclear pact and hoped progress would be made soon.

Addressing a press conference following the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit here on Tuesday evening, the minister said the Kingdom was in constant contact with parties to the talks in Vienna and the feedback does not lead to optimism.

“So far the reports show there is some stalling by Iran and we hope this will turn to progress in the near future. The GCC states prefer to be part of the talks that would be open to any mechanism that addresses their concerns,” he said.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan affirmed that the Vienna negotiations currently do not lead to optimism. There appears to be a hard Iranian position that has reversed what was agreed upon in the previous rounds of talks.

“We want a long and comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran, and we hope the negotiations will succeed. We want to have a normal relationship with Iran, and that depends on it,” he said while stressing that Iran’s hard-line position in the Vienna negotiations is worrisome.