Representatives from Iran and the United States are scheduled to sit down for bilateral negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear energy program

Representatives from Iran and the United States are scheduled to sit down for bilateral negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

The talks are slated to be held in the Swiss capital of Geneva later on Thursday.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi and Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi will lead the Iranian delegation and the US negotiating team will be led by US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and Wendy Sherman, the undersecretary of state for political affairs.

The talks are the first round of negotiations between the two sides after nuclear talks in Vienna during which Iran and six world powers agreed to extend a July 20 deadline to reach an agreement on a final nuclear deal on the Islamic Republic's nuclear energy program.

The two sides are said to be going to discuss sticking points over Iran’s civilian nuclear work.

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said on Wednesday that talks between Tehran and the Sextet of world powers over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program may resume sooner than previously speculated.

Araqchi had said earlier this week that representatives of Iran and the Sextet are likely to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York in late September.