Iran Nuclear Talks May Resume Next Month, Says Swiss FM

Iran nuclear talks may resume in Geneva in October, the Swiss foreign minister said on Tuesday in an interview with Swiss public radio.

"It is possible that the dialogue will continue in Geneva from October," said Didier Burkhalter, whose country represents the United States' interests in Iran.

The meeting would be between "chief negotiators" on Iran's nuclear program and all the parties involved would be present, said Burkhalter, speaking from New York during an annual summit of the U.N. General Assembly.

The negotiations are between Iran and the so-called P5+1 group which is made up of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany.

Burkhalter said he had met the new Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in New York.

He said Switzerland provided a "communications channel" between Washington and Tehran.

Ashton, who leads the talks between the P5+1 and Iran, said Monday she would meet Zarif in Geneva in October for the first round of talks since Iran's new President Hasan Rowhani took office.

The last round of talks was held at the start of April in Almaty.

There has been intense speculation that Rowhani could meet his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

The United States, which has no diplomatic relations with Iran, has played down the prospect of a meeting.

However, the two countries' top diplomats will hold a historic interaction when they take part together in talks on Iran's nuclear program.