Addressing reporters upon his arrival in Vienna, Zarif said “We have come to negotiate with firm determination to safeguard the rights of the Iranian nation and reach a conclusion and we have enough time to achieve this end,” he added.

The Iranian chief nuclear negotiator noted that the new round of talks with the six countries would kick off Tuesday night with a working dinner banquet in the presence of European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

Zarif explained that during the talks with Ashton, the sides would discuss plans for three days of talks between representatives of Iran and the six countries slated to begin on Wednesday.

He said Iran and the six powers have so far held “good and useful” discussions during technical meetings between their experts and senior officials.

“Several rounds of intense and hard talks have been envisaged which would get underway from this stage and three rounds of further negotiations have also been envisioned for the future,” Zarif pointed out.

The fourth round of negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain - plus Germany is believed to be the most sensitive stage in the talks as negotiators are set to begin drafting the text of a comprehensive agreement aimed at fully resolving the decade-old dispute between the West and Iran over the latter’s nuclear energy program.

NJF/NJF