Talks intensify over Iran nuke deal
Iran ian leader pushesforaccord asdeadlin eloom s.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND
— Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program intensified Saturday amid signs of discord, w ith the French and German foreign ministers joining Secretary of State John Kerry in talks w ith Tehran’s top diplomat ahead of an endof-March deadline for a preliminary deal.
With just four days to go until that target, negotiators in the Sw iss tow n of Lausanne w ere meeting multiple times to produce w hat they hope w ill be a blueprint for a comprehensive deal to be reached by the end of June.
The State Department said “serious but difficult w ork” remained for negotiators.
In another nod to the fast-approaching deadline, Iranian President Hassan Rouhanispoke by phone w ith German Chancellor Angela Merkel to emphasize the importance of reaching an agreement.
Iranian negotiator Majid Takht-e Ravanchidenied a new s report that the sides w ere close to agreement on a text, and other officials spoke of remaining obstacles, including Iranian resistance to limits on research and development and demands for more speedy and broad relief from international sanctions.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters as he arrived that the talks have been “long and difficult. We’ve advanced on certain issues, not yet enough on others.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, meanw hile, suggested the blame for any impasses lies w ith the U.S. and its partners.
“In negotiations, both sides must show flexibility,” he w rote on Tw itter. “We have and are ready to make a good deal for all. We aw ait our counterparts’ readiness.”
Iranian nuclear agency chief AliAkbar Salehidescribed one or tw o issues as becoming “tw isted.” He told Iran’s ISNA new s agency that the sides w ere w orking to resolve the difficulties.
Kerry met early in the day w ith Zarif, before extended sessions w ith Fabius and Germany’s Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The foreign ministers of Russia, China and Britain also w ere expected in Lausanne today.
“We now are standing at the threshold of a political resolution and a collective political impulse,” said Russian deputy Foreign Minister SergeiRyabkov. “I think these chances (of an agreement) significantly exceed 50 percent.”
But diplomats at the talks said their presence does not necessarily mean a deal is almost done.
Steinmeier avoided predictions of an outcome, saying only that a nuclear deal could help ease Mideast tensions.
“The endgame of the long negotiations has begun,” he said.
Iran says its nuclear ambitions are purely peaceful; other nations fear it is seeking to develop w eapons.
Progress has been made on the main issue: the future of Iran’s uranium enrichment program. It can produce material for energy, science and medicine but also for the fissile core of a nuclear w eapon.
The sides tentatively have agreed that Iran w ould run no more than 6,000 centrifuges at its main enrichment site for at least 10 years.