Despite progress, Iran nuclear talks hit impasse on details

Major powers and Iran were closer to a preliminary accord on Tehran’s nuclear programme as marathon talks ran into yesterday, but were stuck over key details such as lifting UN sanctions and Iran’s future atomic research.

After missing a self-imposed March 31st deadline for a deal, the negotiators ended talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne in the early morning hours with an air of chaos, disunity and cacophony as delegations scrambled to get contradictory viewpoints across.

The six powers – the United States, the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China – aim to stop Iran from gaining the capacity to develop a nuclear bomb in exchange for easing international sanctions crippling its economy.

Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful.

France’s foreign minister Laurent Fabius returned to Paris because things had not advanced enough for an “immediate deal”.

But as negotiators from the powers met Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif yesterday, Russia and Iran expressed optimism an initial agreement was within reach.

British foreign secretary Philip Hammond sounded a note of caution. "I think we have a broad framework of understanding, but there are still some key issues that have to be worked through," he told the BBC.

Western diplomats said Iran had on Tuesday reaffirmed its “nuclear rights”, suggesting the talks were again getting bogged down entering their seventh day.

Officials cautioned that any agreement would probably be fragile and incomplete.

“We hope to wrap up the talks by Wednesday night . . . We insist on lifting of financial, oil and banking sanctions immediately . . . for other sanctions we need to find a framework,” senior Iranian negotiator Abbas Araqchi told state television. “We insist on keeping research and development with advanced centrifuges,” he said.

Araqchi said he expected the parties to issue a joint statement declaring that “progress has been made in the talks and that we have come to a solution on key issues. We will have the solutions in written form.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin she hoped for a compromise ensuring Iran cannot get nuclear weapons. All sides had made a lot of progress, she said, but “such negotiations only come to an end if there is agreement on all points.”

Other diplomats close to the talks said any preliminary deal would include a document with some key figures – such as permitted numbers for centrifuges and uranium stockpiles – though it would remain confidential.

Standoff

A preliminary deal would be a major milestone toward a final accord, with an end of June deadline, that could end a 12-year standoff between Iran and world powers and reduce the risk of another Middle East war. But it would only be a first step and reaching agreement by June 30th will be difficult.

The US threatened to walk away if the talks yield no political framework accord.

The talks have stalled on the issues of Iran’s nuclear centrifuge research, the lifting of UN sanctions and their restoration if Iran breaches the agreement.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, who returned to Moscow, said negotiators had reached a general accord on “all key aspects”.

But a diplomat close to the talks denied such an agreement had been reached and Mr Fabius said: “Things have progressed, but not enough . . . that we can reach an immediate deal. We are firm. We want a robust deal with detailed checks.” – (Reuters)