Iran expects nuclear deal to be implemented in early January

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi talks to journalists after meeting senior officials from the United States, Russia, China, Britain, Germany and France in a hotel in Vienna, Austria, October 19, 2015. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran expects a deal it reached with world powers in July, under which sanctions will be lifted in return for it scaling down its nuclear programme, to be implemented at the start of next year, Iranian nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday.

"We expect early January," Araqchi told reporters after meeting the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is tasked with verifying whether Iran is keeping its commitments under the deal.