Brussels, April 17 (IANS): The European Union (EU) announced on Thursday that Iran and the P5 1 group would resume talks on the Iranian nuclear issue on April 22 in Austrian capital Vienna.

"The E3/EU 3 (P5 1) and Iran will continue work towards a comprehensive solution to the Iranian nuclear issue based on the key understandings reached in Switzerland on April 2," the EU said in a press release, according to Spanish news agency EFE.

"A bilateral meeting of EU Political Director Helga Schmid and Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will kick off the talks on April 22 and 23, followed by a plenary meeting of all E3/EU 3 political directors and Iran," the statement said.

"In parallel, experts will continue the work on the technical details necessary to finalise the political work," the statement added.

After intense negotiations in the Swiss city of Lausanne, Iran and the P5 1 group (the US, France, China, Britain, Russia plus Germany), earlier this month, reached a preliminary agreement, which will serve as the basis for a comprehensive agreement by June 30.

The agreement will put an end to the 12-year dispute over Iran's nuclear programme and will aim at limiting Iranian nuclear capacities, and enjoin stringent monitoring to ensure that the country does not develop nuclear weapons, in exchange for lifting international sanctions imposed on Tehran.