国际英语新闻:Iran nuke talks resume in Geneva

GENEVA, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- World powers and Iran resumed talks here in Geneva on Wednesday over Tehran's nuclear program, the first round after the failure to meet a Nov. 24 deadline for a comprehensive nuclear deal.

The plenary meetings of the P5+1 group, namely China, France, Russia, Britain, the United States, plus Germany, and Iran began this morning, and were expected to last all day long, a diplomatic source said, without giving further details.

Bilateral and trilateral engagements have been held in the Swiss city to pave ways for progress during the past two days before Wednesday's negotiations.

Iranian diplomats noted that all nuclear issues will be discussed in this round of talks.

Wang Qun, director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry department of arms control, who heads the Chinese delegation to the talks, said this morning that "we have to face the difficulties before us, but on the other hand we will do our very best".

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov reportedly said on Wednesday that Arak nuclear reactor and sanctions imposed against Tehran are two major sticking points for the Iran nuclear talks.

Iran has been a target of UN sanctions due to its alleged attempts to build nuclear weapons. The West accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the cover of civilian nuclear programs, which Iran has denied, insisting that its nuclear programs are for peaceful purposes only.