Iran nuclear talks continue as foreign ministers fly in

Tehran and world powers were still shy of a breakthrough at nuclear talks yesterday as foreign ministers flew in to lend heft to negotiations that focused on how soon sanctions would be lifted and how Iran’s compliance would be checked.

Iran is in talks with the US, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia on an agreement under which it would curtail its nuclear programme in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said some progress had been made. He will return to Vienna on Sunday evening in the hope of clinching a final deal to end a 12-year standoff between Iran and the West.

Sanctions lifted

A senior Iranian official told reporters that Iran and the six were discussing possible dates when key US, EU and UN sanctions would be lifted and limits on Iranian nuclear activities put into effect.

The idea was to have both sides prepare everything so that the implementation of a deal would start on a specific day, he said.

However, the official highlighted a major difference between Iran and the other powers when he said Tehran expected that key international sanctions would be “terminated”.

US and EU officials have spoken of sanctions being suspended rather than ended, so that they can be reimposed if Iranian fails to comply with a deal.

The six countries and their allies suspect Iran is using a civilian nuclear energy programme as a cover to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Iran denies this, saying its programme is for peaceful purposes.

The negotiators missed a June 30th deadline for a final agreement, but have given themselves another week, until July 7th.

A deal would be a major policy achievement for both US president Barack Obama and Iranian president Hassan Rouhani. Both face scepticism from powerful hardliners at home in countries that have been enemies since 1979, when Iranian revolutionaries stormed the US embassy in Tehran.

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US secretary of state John Kerry, who have been holding intense talks in Vienna, were joined on Thursday by the foreign ministers of Britain, Germany, China and France.

Britain's Philip Hammond told reporters on arrival: "I don't think we're at any kind of breakthrough moment yet, and we will do whatever we need to do to keep the momentum."

Iranian negotiator Majid Takhteravanchi told reporters: “We have reached the final days, but still it is not clear when the last day will be.”

Major issues yet to be agreed also include monitoring and verification steps to ensure that Iran does not cheat on any agreement.

– (Reuters)