Iran nuclear talks resume with 40 days to deadline
Iran nuclear talks resume with 40 days to deadline
Iranian foreign minister Zarif arrives in Vienna, but agreement with US and EU remains elusive.
3 min read
Negotiators are unwilling to extend the deal deadline (Anadolu/Getty)
Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, is set to meet US and EU negotiators in Vienna today in an attempt to move forward in nuclear talks, only 40 days before the deadline for a deal.
Zarif, accompanied by Iran's negotiating team, will attempt to hash out an agreement that will put in place measures that would prevent Iran from making an atomic weapon in exchange for lifting sanctions.
Iran denies it wants nuclear weapons, insisting that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, such as power generation.
Zarif is scheduled to meet EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton later on Tuesday. US Secretary of State John Kerry will join on Wednesday.
The cut-off date for a deal, November 24, grows ever closer, and yet an agreement does not seem close.
Arriving in Vienna, Zarif was quoted by Iranian media as saying that there was "general agreement", but that "numerous questions still need to be resolved", including on "uranium enrichment and the lifting of sanctions".
Agreement proving difficult
The US and Iran have said their negotiating teams remain a long way from agreement, and talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York at the end of September were unsuccessful in bringing about a resolution.
The negotiations were already extended in November 2013, when Iran and the P5+1 (US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany) set July 20 as a deadline.
The talks now reportedly remain stuck over the size and output of Iran's uranium enrichment programme, a technology that can be used to produce nuclear fuel or nuclear weapons.
"There are still fairly wide gaps on certain critical issues, and that's what we'll be talking about," US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters on Friday.
Rouhani optimistic
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani addressed the country on state television on Monday evening, and was optimistic, despite the seemingly slow pace of negotiations.
"We think a final settlement of the issues is possible within the remaining 40 days," Rouhani said.
Rouhani said that Iran has the "political will" to reach a final deal, but that patience was needed.
"We succeeded in a provisional agreement and we have a great task [ahead of us] in reaching a final agreement," he said. "This problem has lasted 12 years and it cannot be solved in a few days, though we made positive steps."
Hardliners in both the US and Iran are opposed to extending the deadline for a deal, each seeing delays as a trick by the other side to secure diplomatic advantages.
"I think the extension will be very difficult to negotiate," said Gary Samore, who left the US team negotiating with Iran last year. "It is likely to be strongly resisted both in Washington and Tehran."
Iranian dissidents revealed the existence of two nuclear sites under construction in Iran, at Natanz and Arak, in 2001. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suspects that work on developing a nuclear weapon took place before 2003 and possibly since.
The IAEA has been pressing Iran to address its claims since 2002, and in late 2011 concluded in a major report that Iran had conducted "activities relevant to the development" of a nuclear bomb.
Iran rejected all such claims, saying that they were based on faulty intelligence provided by Israel's Mossad and the CIA. Tehran also complained it was not allowed to see the evidence being presented.
However, since February, Iran has promised to share information on its development of a detonator that could be used in civilian applications such as mining, but that could also be used to set off a nuclear bomb.
Zarif, accompanied by Iran's negotiating team, will attempt to hash out an agreement that will put in place measures that would prevent Iran from making an atomic weapon in exchange for lifting sanctions.
Iran denies it wants nuclear weapons, insisting that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, such as power generation.
Zarif is scheduled to meet EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton later on Tuesday. US Secretary of State John Kerry will join on Wednesday.
The cut-off date for a deal, November 24, grows ever closer, and yet an agreement does not seem close.
 |
We think a final settlement of the issues is possible within the remaining 40 days. - Hassan Rouhani |
Arriving in Vienna, Zarif was quoted by Iranian media as saying that there was "general agreement", but that "numerous questions still need to be resolved", including on "uranium enrichment and the lifting of sanctions".
Agreement proving difficult
The US and Iran have said their negotiating teams remain a long way from agreement, and talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York at the end of September were unsuccessful in bringing about a resolution.
The negotiations were already extended in November 2013, when Iran and the P5+1 (US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany) set July 20 as a deadline.
The talks now reportedly remain stuck over the size and output of Iran's uranium enrichment programme, a technology that can be used to produce nuclear fuel or nuclear weapons.
"There are still fairly wide gaps on certain critical issues, and that's what we'll be talking about," US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters on Friday.
Rouhani optimistic
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani addressed the country on state television on Monday evening, and was optimistic, despite the seemingly slow pace of negotiations.
"We think a final settlement of the issues is possible within the remaining 40 days," Rouhani said.
Rouhani said that Iran has the "political will" to reach a final deal, but that patience was needed.
"We succeeded in a provisional agreement and we have a great task [ahead of us] in reaching a final agreement," he said. "This problem has lasted 12 years and it cannot be solved in a few days, though we made positive steps."
Hardliners in both the US and Iran are opposed to extending the deadline for a deal, each seeing delays as a trick by the other side to secure diplomatic advantages.
"I think the extension will be very difficult to negotiate," said Gary Samore, who left the US team negotiating with Iran last year. "It is likely to be strongly resisted both in Washington and Tehran."
Iranian dissidents revealed the existence of two nuclear sites under construction in Iran, at Natanz and Arak, in 2001. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suspects that work on developing a nuclear weapon took place before 2003 and possibly since.
The IAEA has been pressing Iran to address its claims since 2002, and in late 2011 concluded in a major report that Iran had conducted "activities relevant to the development" of a nuclear bomb.
Iran rejected all such claims, saying that they were based on faulty intelligence provided by Israel's Mossad and the CIA. Tehran also complained it was not allowed to see the evidence being presented.
However, since February, Iran has promised to share information on its development of a detonator that could be used in civilian applications such as mining, but that could also be used to set off a nuclear bomb.
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