Iranian nuclear talks falter ahead of deadline

Nuclear negotiations between Tehran and six world powers are not expected to finish by tonight's deadline, Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said, with diplomats reporting deadlock over a UN arms embargo and other sticking points.

The White House said significant issues remained to be resolved and Iran faced some tough decisions.

Officials close to the negotiations spoke of the increasing frustration on the part of European delegates but the White House said “genuine progress” had been made and the US negotiating team would stay in Vienna as long as negotiations remained useful.

“There continue to be significant issues that remain,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. “They’re not going to sign on to an agreement until all of our concerns have been addressed. And as long as they continue to make progress in doing that, then the talks will . . . will continue.”

For days, Iran and six world powers have been close to a deal to give Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for limits on its nuclear programme, but Iranian officials said talks could run past the midnight deadline and success was not guaranteed.

There were no concrete signs of a breakthrough as diplomats in Vienna continued to struggle over issues such as UN sanctions and access to Iranian military sites.

Extension

Earlier, US secretary of state John Kerry sat in silence when asked if the deadline might be extended or if he could rule out an extension. His Iranian counterpart, Mr Zarif, said “there shouldn’t be any extension”, according to the semi-official Fars news agency, only to add: “But we can continue the talks as long as necessary.”

Mr Zarif spoke with Mr Kerry and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini for more than an hour.

Oil markets appeared to be expecting a deal soon; crude futures fell about 1 per cent on the prospect that sanctions would soon be lifted, allowing Iran to expand its sales into an already oversupplied market.

Diplomats said there were contingency plans for an announcement ceremony in the event of a deal, which would open the door to ending sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy, in exchange for at least a decade of curbs on its nuclear programme.

The western powers in particular suspect Iran may have sought to use its civil nuclear programme as a cover to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Iran says the programme is solely for peaceful purposes.

Interim deal

If no agreement was reached by midnight, the powers will need to extend the terms of an interim nuclear deal that has already been extended three times in two weeks.

Both the Americans and Iranians have said they are willing to walk away. They could also suspend the talks for a few weeks or months, though Iran has said it opposes this, and Mr Earnest said he was not aware of any plans for a break.

Among the biggest sticking points in the past week has been Iran’s insistence that a United Nations Security Council arms embargo and ban on its ballistic missile programme dating from 2006 be lifted immediately if an agreement is reached.

Russia, which sells weapons to Iran, has publicly supported Tehran on the issue.

Other problematic issues are access for inspectors to military sites in Iran, explanations from Tehran of past activity that might have been aimed at developing a nuclear weapon and the overall speed of sanctions relief.

Iran’s Fars news agency reported that Iran was pushing for the draft UN Security Council resolution under discussion as part of the deal to state explicitly that Tehran’s nuclear programme is legal.

– (Reuters)