Updated 9:33 p.m. Moscow Time
VIENNA, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - The long-awaited comprehensive Iran nuclear deal will be a binding agreement and may not need to be ratified, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Thursday.
"I think we are aiming at a document that will have a binding nature, and, according to a commonly accepted doctrine...political obligations are equaled to legal international obligations," Ryabkov told Russian journalists following the latest round of talks between P5+1 mediators and Tehran in Vienna.
"We are not expecting a document that would need ratification procedures," Ryabkov said.
An agreement on the Iranian nuclear program was initially to be reached by July 2014. However, the deadline for reaching the agreement was later moved to November 24, 2014.
The West and Israel have accused Iran of attempts to develop a nuclear weapon under the pretext of a civilian nuclear program. Tehran, however, contended that its nuclear development was only aimed at addressing Iran's growing energy needs and achieving other peaceful goals.
In September, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reaffirmed Tehran's preparedness to land a historic nuclear deal with the West, though it stressed that Iran would not give up on its peaceful nuclear program.
