TEHRAN (Tasnim) � Delegates representing Iran and the European Union started a fresh round of negotiations on Tehran�s nuclear energy program in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Wednesday.

The talks, co-chaired by Iran�s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and the EU deputy secretary general for the external action service, Helga Maria Schmid, kicked off at 2 p.m. local time.

Araqchi announced earlier that Vienna talks will deal mainly with the issue of �sanctions� in a comprehensive deal that Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) are trying to reach.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had also announced that diplomats from Iran and the six powers are going to start drafting the text of a comprehensive agreement.

And Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham also said on Wednesday that negotiations with Mrs. Schmid will go on until Thursday.

"On Friday (April 24), plenary talks will be held between Iran and the Group 5+1," she added.

Iran and the six powers are in talks to hammer out a lasting accord that would end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran's peaceful nuclear energy program.

On April 2, the two sides reached a framework nuclear agreement after more than a week of intensive negotiations in Lausanne, Switzerland, with both sides committed to push for a final deal until the end of June.

By Tasnim News Agency