Speaking to reporters in Switzerland on Monday night, Zarif hoped that “substantial steps” could be taken in the new round of talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) in Switzerland.
He reiterated that negotiation is the only choice for the world to resolve the standoff over Iran’s peaceful nuclear program. “No other option exists,” he added.
On Monday, Iranian and American teams held a meeting with Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry in attendance.
Iran’s negotiating team also consists deputy foreign ministers, Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takht Ravanchi, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi, and special aide to Iran's president Hossein Fereidoun.
The US delegation also involves Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.
The talks are scheduled to continue on Tuesday in Montreux.
A plenary session involving Iran and the six powers will be held on March 5.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (also known as the P5+1 or E3+3) are in talks to hammer out a final agreement to end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran’s civilian nuclear energy program.
The two sides held bilateral and multilateral negotiations in Geneva earlier in February to narrow down the remaining differences ahead of a deadline for a final agreement by June 30.