Due to the voluminous size of the draft agreement, a senior Iranian official told CBS News that a deal by Sunday night is “simply logistically impossible”.
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Nuclear negotiations with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, appeared back on track Sunday, with Kerry dropping warnings they could go either way but expressing hope that almost a decade of worldwide efforts could soon result in a historic deal.
A diplomat familiar with the negotiations said disagreements also persist on how long some of the restrictions on imports of nuclear technology and other embargos outlined in any new Security Council resolution will last.
Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday said he is “hopeful” about the US and the other world powers being able to reach a deal with Iran to curb its nuclear program.
“I hope we are finally entering the final phase of these marathon negotiations”, he told reporters, outside the Palais Coburg.
“A deal is in reach”, agreed Iranian diplomat Alireza Miryousefi, adding however on Twitter on the eve of the latest effective deadline for an accord: “It only requires political will at this point”. “But some issues remain that need to be resolved by foreign ministers”. In a sign that something might be in the works, both Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi were expected to join the talks.
But a senior State Department official cautioned against too much optimism at this stage. The goal of the deal is to increase the time it would take for Iran to produce enough enriched uranium fuel for a single weapon to at least one year from current estimates of 2-3 months.
Kerry and Zarif have met almost every day since Kerry arrived in Vienna more than two weeks ago for what was meant to be the final phase in a negotiation process that began with an interim nuclear deal clinched in November 2013. The mood among negotiators had turned more sombre each time a new target date was set. “We never left the negotiation table and always provided the best answer”, he said on Iranian television during in a meeting with artists.
Meanwhile, Iranians were preparing to celebrate in the event of an agreement.
“I think it’s going to be a very hard sell, if it’s completed, in Congress”, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the “Fox News Sunday” broadcast.
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Iran’s state-run Press TV cited Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday as calling the U.S.an “excellent example of arrogance”.
