Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and US Secretary of State John Kerry held five hours of intense negotiations on Friday in the Swiss city of Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

The three diplomats were working on a draft agreement which many say could be a breakthrough in the resolution of the Iranian nuclear case.

Araqchi, who is also a member of Iran’s nuclear negotiating team, told reporters that the negotiations between the three senior diplomats were productive, stressing that lots of work still remains to be done.

He added that the talks, which are aimed at hammering out a draft deal on Tehran’s nuclear case, are set to continue on Saturday.

American sources also said progress has been made, but there is more work to do.

Diplomatic sources have so far described the ongoing nuclear talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain -- plus Germany, as good.

Meanwhile, the Russian and Chinese foreign ministers have decided to go to Geneva. Sergei Lavrov and Wang Yi will travel to Switzerland on Saturday.

Negotiations over the Iranian nuclear case began in Geneva on Thursday, and were joined by the US secretary of state and the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany on Friday.

On Thursday, the Iranian foreign minister said, “If all parties make efforts, we could reach an agreement in the negotiations in Geneva.”

Ahead of the Geneva talks, Araqchi, the Iranian deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic will enter the talks with seriousness, expressing hope for substantial progress in the discussion.

RA/SHI