Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has said that a deal to end a nuclear standoff with the international community could be reached at talks in Swiss city of Geneva later this week.

"I believe it is even possible to reach that agreement this week but I can only talk for our side, I cannot talk for the other side," Zarif told France 24 television ahead of talks in Paris with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius. His comments come two days after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei voiced his support for Iran's nuclear talks, but reserved an amount of pessimism about their results.

"No one should see our negotiating team as compromisers," Khamenei, Iran's top decision-maker, was quoted as saying on his official website on Sunday.

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