Berlin, Feb 9, IRNA -- A German foreign ministry spokesman said he was still optimistic that the basic framework of a nuclear deal with Iran could still be met by the March deadline, IRNA reported in Berlin on Monday.
�Speaking at a routine weekly government press briefing, Martin Schaefer said an overall framework for a deal was still 'politically


doable', however this required also a 'political compromise'. In order to meet the March target date for a basic political agreement,

all sides have to budge further on their positions, the German diplomat said.

Pointing to Friday's meeting between German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on the sidelines of the high-profile Munich Security Conference, Schaefer said the 45-minute talks focused on assessing the 'current state of the negotiations' between Iran and six world powers (US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany).

The meeting was aimed at taking stock of where we stand in the negotiation process, he added.

Schaefer said while there was still a 'political gap' between Iran and the E3 plus 3 in the nuclear talks, this rift could be overcome technically.

By IRNA