A “new, constructive” proposal had been submitted to six world powers on Tuesday, one of the delegation sources said, without providing details. “Western nations must be prepared to give up sanctions“.
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The remarks come after negotiators pushed to extend the talks with Iran until Friday, July 10.
But when the second meeting concluded, it became clear that a deal was not in sight and diplomats conceded that the deadline on Tuesday – which was the extension of an original June 30 deadline – would not going to be met.
But a senior U.S. official told reporters in Vienna the restrictions could be loosened as part of a final deal. A senior USA official said optimism about an immediate end of talks was not “grounded in reality”.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there was “every reason” to believe a deal would be done within “a few days”, and that there was an “understanding” that most of the current sanctions against Iran would be lifted.
During a memorial service in Jerusalem marking 111 years since the death of modern Zionism visionary Theodor Herzl, Netanyahu said, “Iran’s growing aggression is several times more risky than that of IS, which is risky enough”.
All had spoken of deep differences remaining, and there was no public indication they had resolved disputes ranging from inspection rules on suspicious Iranian sites to limits on Tehran’s research and development of advanced nuclear technology.
“What we want to make sure of is that we continue to …keep in place, an agreement that freezes Iran’s nuclear program, rolls it back in some key areas, while we continue to have these conversations”, he said. “We’re all quite well aware of what is left to be done, and everyone understands that time does not help get those decisions made”.
The USA official acknowledged the Iran nuclear talks were “not a missile negotiation, and that “countries are allowed to have a conventional missile programme””.
The JPOA eases United States and European Union sanctions on petrochemical, gold and precious metal exports from Iran, plus United States sanctions on the auto and aviation industries. The official demanded anonymity, in line with State Department custom.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond were expected to return to Vienna this evening.
“We are taking the days we still need to finalise the agreement, which is something that is still possible, even if now we are getting into a hard time”, said Mogherini, who chairs the group of foreign ministers from Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany, the countries in the talks with Iran.
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Iranian officials, for example, say they want a means of recourse in case the six world powers don’t live up to their end of the bargain. Should USA Secretary of State John Kerry fail to hand over a deal to USA lawmakers by Thursday, Congress would have 60 days instead of 30 to review the agreement. Another approach, which might not satisfy Iran, would delay a lifting of the embargoes until some later, arbitrary milestone is reached, Vaez said.
