Iran deal reaches finishing line

Major powers close to clinching final accord on nuclear programme

VIENNA: Foreign ministers from major powers are set to turn the screws on Iran to finalise a historic nuclear deal on the eve of a deadline to present it to US lawmakers.

If the US Congress does not receive the text by today, it makes the approval process longer and potentially more problematic.

But despite this pressure, and almost two weeks of talks in the Austrian capital, it is unclear whether an accord aimed at ending a 13-year stand-off can be sewn up at all, let alone in time.

Building on a framework agreement from April, the deal would see Iran dismantle large parts of its nuclear infrastructure in order to put a nuclear bomb out of reach.

In return, a web of painful United Nations and Western sanctions on Iran – which denies wanting the bomb – would be progressively lifted once the UN atomic watchdog

verified Teheran had fulfilled its promises.

“We have come a long way over the past 21 months of negotiations over my country’s nuclear energy programme,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote in the

Financial Times.

“Never have Iran and its counterparts been this close to a final accord. But success is far from assured... Serious political decisions still need to be made,” he said.

Difficult issues in what will be a highly complex agreement include working out the pace and timing of sanctions relief and a stalled UN probe into alleged efforts by Iran to develop the atomic bomb.

Iran has also insisted there should be changes to a UN arms embargo and an easing of restrictions on missile sales, a prospect alarming rivals of Iran and allies of the United States in the region.

In a sign of tensions, diplomats in Vienna told of a stormy meeting on Monday evening between US Secretary of State John Kerry, Zarif and the foreign ministers of the other major powers.

Iranian media reported that Zarif told EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini: “Never threaten an Iranian.”

Diplomats said there was shouting during a one-on-one meeting between Kerry and Zarif. — AFP