Top Russian diplomat said that negotiations on Iran’s controversial nuclear program were moving in the right direction and a final nuclear deal might be reached in the upcoming days.
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Yukiya Amano, head of the worldwide Atomic Energy Agency United Nations nuclear watchdog, will travel to Tehran to join talks on compliance and the past potential military dimensions of Iran’s program. The IAEA needs “timely and effective access” to anywhere that the Iranians might be violating the agreement.
Major issues still yet to be agreed include monitoring and verification steps to ensure that Iran does not cheat on any agreement as well as the pace and timing of sanctions relief.
Back in Vienna, when asked by journalists waiting outside the elegant Coburg Palace hotel if he was confident of a deal, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif replied from the balcony of his room: “I have to be hopeful”.
Despite the obstacles, the atmosphere at the talks in Vienna was, outwardly at least, upbeat, with diplomats on both sides saying that they were never nearer signing a deal.
The official said that technical problems by Iran had slowed the process but the United States was satisfied that Iran had met its commitments to reduce the amount of enriched uranium it has stored.
The US and some other negotiating countries want Iran to go further. Iran was driven to the bargaining table because of targeted trade sanctions imposed against the country by much of the world.
The recently released State Department report on state sponsors of terrorism found that, “Iran continued its terrorist-related activity in 2014, including support for Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza, Lebanese Hezbollah and various groups in Iraq and throughout the Middle East”. Iranian officials maintain that military sites are off-limits due to a red line set by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who wields more power than Rouhani, the elected president.
It would end a 13-year standoff over Iran’s suspect nuclear programme, and draw the curtain on nearly two years of intense negotiations which resumed in earnest after President Hassan Rouhani came to power in August 2013.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said there was a “high possibility” Iran and the six would succeed in reaching an accord in the coming days, though he cautioned that there were still hard issues to resolve.
But several people familiar with the negotiations told us that there are likely to be certain elements of the complicated agreement to relax sanctions in exchange for inspections of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure that would have to be kept from public view.
But while Iranians are watching the talks and hoping for a breakthrough, half-way across the world, some Americans are cautioning against rushing into a deal.
However, the official highlighted a major difference between Iran and the other powers when he said Tehran expected that key worldwide sanctions would be “terminated”.
“We are not there yet, but we are moving forward so it’s going rather well”, Mogherini said.
Ayed says Iranians are following news out of Vienna in any way they can.
It also baulks at the desire of the IAEA – which it sees as biased and riddled with spies – to visit military sites such as Parchin and interview its scientists.
While President Obama said a verifiable agreement is the best way to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, though critics – including Republican presidential candidates – are prepared to pounce.
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“In the course of the meetings, the two sides reached a general understanding about the timetable [and] the continuation of cooperation by taking into account Iran and the agency’s considerations for expediting the resolution of past issues”, Najafi said.
