UN chief urges diplomatic accord on Iran's nuclear program

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday voiced his hope to see a comprehensive agreement on Iran's nuclear program at an early date.

Ban made the appeal in a meeting with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, which was held before the resumption of talks in New York between Iran and six world powers.

The talks between Iran and the six countries -- Britain, France, China, Germany, Russia the United States -- are resuming after a two-month hiatus and against the backdrop that Washington and Tehran have ruled out cooperation on fighting Islamic State militants, who have taken over swaths of Iraq and Syria.

In July, Iran and the six countries agreed to extend negotiations over the former's disputed nuclear program for another four months till Nov. 24 as they could not narrow down the significant gaps on core issues during the past six months.

An interim deal, which took effect on Jan. 20, was designed to buy time for negotiations. Under the deal, Iran would suspend some sensitive nuclear activities in exchange for a limited sanction relief.

In recent months, the talks for a final deal stalled as the parties were still far apart on some core issues, such as Iran's future enrichment capacity.

Apart from the Iranian nuclear issue, Ban and Zarif also discussed conflicts in the region, particularly Iraq and Syria, and the human rights situation in Iran, Ban's spokesman said.

Ban "reiterated his belief that Iran would play a constructive role in Iraq and Syria," the spokesman added.