Iran and six world powers
appeared close to a deal on Monday to give Tehran sanctions
relief in exchange for limits on its nuclear program, but
Iranian officials said talks could run past their latest
midnight deadline and success was not guaranteed.
Diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and
the United States wore grim expressions as they met and U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry sat in silence when asked if the
deadline might be extended or if he could rule out an extension.
"There shouldn't be any extension," Iranian Foreign Minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying by the semi-official
Fars news agency. "But we can continue the talks as long as
necessary."
One of his deputies also sounded a cautionary note.
"I cannot promise whether the remaining issues can be
resolved tonight or tomorrow night. Some issues still remain
unresolved and, until they are solved, we cannot say an
agreement has been reached," Iran's Tasnim news agency quoted
Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi as saying in Vienna.
Diplomats close to the talks said there were contingency
plans for an announcement ceremony on Monday if the negotiators
sealed an agreement, 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 program.
The Western powers in particular suspect Iran may have
sought to use its civil nuclear program as a cover to develop
a nuclear weapons capability. Iran says the program is solely
for peaceful purposes.
The six major powers have given themselves until Monday to
reach a deal with Iran. If they fail to get one by midnight,
they will need to extend the terms of an interim nuclear deal
with Tehran that has already been extended three times in two
weeks.
Another option is to walk away, something both the Americans
and Iranians have said they are willing to do. They could also
suspend the talks for a few weeks or months, though Iran has
said it opposes this.
Kerry has cautioned that "major issues" remain to be
resolved, and comments from both senior Republican and
Democratic senators on Sunday suggested that any final deal
would also face tough scrutiny in the U.S. Congress.
"The parts of the deal are there," said a senior official
from one of the six countries. "We still need to put the
finishing touches together. All sides have to decide now. It's
time to say 'Yes'."
A senior Iranian official said 99 percent of the issues had
been resolved, adding: "With political will, we can finish the
work late tonight and announce it tomorrow."
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 program 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.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's point-man on the
Iranian talks, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, told Israel's
Army Radio he was expecting an agreement on Monday or Tuesday.
He reiterated Israel's opposition to the deal.
"What is being drafted, even if we managed to slightly
improve it over the past year, is a bad agreement, full of
loopholes," he said. "If we call it by its true name, they are
selling the world's future for a questionable diplomatic
achievement in the present."
REUTERS
For more details, watch Nada Andraos' report in the video above