BackJohn Kerry seeks elusive breakthough in Iran nuclear talks
Kerry said on Tuesday there was still hard work to be done but that a deal remains achievable
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Vienna: US secretary of state John Kerry returned to Vienna on Wednesday for a fresh push with his Iranian counterpart to jumpstart stalled talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme, with six weeks left to forge a deal.
Iran and six world powers have until 24 November to strike a comprehensive accord meant to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons under the cover of its civilian atomic programme.
Kerry, who attempted a similar mission in Vienna before a July deadline which was then pushed back, said on Tuesday there was still hard work to be done but that a deal remains achievable.
“I don’t believe it’s out of reach, but we have some tough issues to resolve," Kerry told reporters in Paris after talks with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
Kerry refused to be drawn on whether—as suggested by many experts—Iran and the six powers might push back the target date.
“We need to continue to have some serious discussions, which we will, and we’ll see where we are," he said.
“I don’t think anything is served by a lot of speculation at this point in time."
Deadline ‘not sacred’
A senior US state department official said on Wednesday that pushing back the target date was not even being discussed.
“We’re not talking about an extension," the official said. “There is still time to get this done... if everyone can make the decisions they need."
But Lavrov, whose country together with the US, China, Britain, France and Germany forms the P5+1 group, said on Tuesday in Paris that the November deadline was not “sacred".
“We aspire to get a result by that date but I am convinced by the principle that it is not artificially-set deadlines but the essence of the deal, the quality of the deal (that counts)," Lavrov said, according to Interfax.
Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif too appeared to indicate that another extension might be needed in order to discuss what he called “serious and innovative"—but unspecified—“new methods".
“These talks will take time... and it is possible that more time might be needed to discuss these solutions," he told state television late Tuesday after talks with US and European Union negotiators.
Iran, reeling from sanctions pressure, denies seeking to build the atomic bomb and says it wants to expand its nuclear programme in order to generate electricity and help cancer patients.
But the six powers are pressing Tehran to reduce in scope its activities in order to make any dash to make a weapon all but impossible, offering sanctions relief in return.
Last November, the two sides agreed an interim deal and set a 20 July target to agree a lasting accord, but the deadline was extended to 24 November.
Progress appears to have been made on changing the design of a new reactor at Arak so that it produces less weapons-grade plutonium, as well as on enhanced UN inspections and on the fortified Fordo facility.
The main bone of contention however remains Iran’s enrichment capacity, a process rendering uranium suitable for power generation but also, at high purities, for a nuclear weapon.
Other problem areas include the pace at which sanctions would be lifted, the timeframe that an accord would cover and a troubled UN probe into past suspect “military dimensions" of Iran’s activities.
Time on the clock
The US official said that Washington had identified sanctions that could be eased in a first step in any deal but indicated that there remained disagreement on this with the Iranians.
Many analysts have begun to believe that the deadline might be extended again, possibly locking in something on Arak and Fordo, into a so-called “Interim Plus" deal.
“A fully-fledged agreement by 24 November no longer appears likely. What is still possible is a breakthrough that could justify adding more time to the diplomatic clock," Ali Vaez from the International Crisis Group told AFP.
“Our will is that in 40 days the matter will be resolved but if other things happen and we are not able to solve all the problems, the two camps will find a solution," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on state television on Friday. AFP
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