Sides push back deadline on ‘tense’ Iran nuke talks
White House says deal may be close despite differences
VIENNA — Negotiators at the Iran nuclear talks pushed past their second deadline in a week Tuesday, raising new questions about the ability of world powers to cut off all Iranian pathways to a bomb through diplomacy. The discussions, already in their 12th day, were prolonged until possibly Friday.
“We knew it would have been difficult, challenging and sometimes hard,” said Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief. She said the negotiations would continue despite hitting some “tense” moments, and the U.S. State Department declared the current interim nuclear arrangement with Iran extended through Friday.
As the latest target date arrived for a deal that would set a decade of restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program, Secretary of State John Kerry, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and other top diplomats huddled in Vienna in search of a breakthrough.
All had spoken of deep differences remaining, and there was no public indication they had resolved disputes ranging from inspection rules on suspicious Iranian sites to limits on Tehran’s research and development of advanced nuclear technology.
“The last, difficult, political issues, we have to solve,” Mogherini said.
In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the parties “have never been closer to reaching a final agreement than we are now,” but significant differences remain.
“That’s an indication that these talks, at least for now, are worth continuing,” he said.
A senior U.S. official in Vienna confirmed that one more clear difference had resurfaced, saying the U.S. would oppose Iran’s demand that the nuclear agreement also include the lifting of the U.N. arms embargo on the country. The official said the U.S. is insisting that any new U.N. Security Council resolution pertaining to Iran retain an arms ban and ballistic missile restrictions.
As he left the talks for an economic summit at home, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said fewer than 10 major differences were still to be ironed out, including access to Iranian sites for international monitors. He said questions related to the easing of sanctions on Iran had been decided, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported. Lavrov said he could return to the talks later in the week.
Diplomats had extended their discussions by a week when they missed their goal of a pact by June 30, after passing previous deadlines in July 2014 and last November. For Kerry and his team, pressure is increasing from skeptical U.S. allies and members of Congress. If the accord isn’t sent to Congress by Thursday, its monthlong review period would be doubled to 60 days, meaning the Obama administration couldn’t lift any economic sanctions on Iran during that time.
In Tehran on Tuesday, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization declared it had reached a “general understanding” in parallel talks with the U.N. nuclear agency on “joint cooperation.” The Iranians have made similar claims previously, and it was unclear if any process was established for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s long-stymied investigation of past nuclear weapons work by Iran.
Kerry met early Tuesday with the foreign ministers of Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia and then briefly with Zarif. Russia’s Lavrov and China’s Wang Yi left on Tuesday, and the EU’s Mogherini said other ministers were likely to depart and return.
“We are taking these negotiations day to day to see if we can conclude a comprehensive agreement,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, adding that Kerry would remain in Vienna.