He said questions related to the easing of sanctions on Iran had been decided, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported. “I told you one week ago more or less, we are interpreting in a flexible way our deadline, which means that we are taking the time, the days we still need, to finalize the agreement”, she said. “If the tough decisions don’t get made, we are absolutely prepared to call an end to this process”.
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Thursday’s latest delay for a comprehensive deal is significant. But if a deal is not reached by 6:00 a.m.in Vienna (0400 GMT), the skeptical Republican-led US Congress will have 60 days rather than 30 days to review it, extra time the administration of President Barack Obama worries could create new chances to derail it.
Iranian diplomats sent conciliatory messages ahead of a Thursday round of crucial nuclear talks with six major powers, an attempt to paper over emotional spats that had erupted during negotiations on a wide-ranging deal earlier this week.
The specter of prolonged public relations campaigns for and against the pact also may not work in Obama’s favor. “I think we’re negotiating with the Russians”.
The solution to that apparently intractable problem was first presented by the United States delegation to the Iranians, according to an Iranian official involved in the negotiations who spoke on condition that he not be identified.
Less than two weeks before they started, Secretary of State John Kerry signaled in a press briefing that the PMD issue would not be allowed to interfere with an agreement. That conversation followed a flurry of other closed-door meetings, including a 45-minute session between Kerry and his Iranian counterpart.
During a separate meeting between Kerry and Zarif, other residents at the posh Coburg hotel heard shouting and raised voices, prompting a Kerry aide to poke his head round the door and advise the two to pipe down, a diplomatic source said.
A senior Israeli government official charged Thursday that the sextet’s overly conciliatory stance in the talks would nearly guarantee “that the world will face a nuclear-armed terrorist state, which will receive a cash bonanza of hundreds of billions of dollars to fund its aggression and terror”.
His foreign minister, meanwhile, said on Twitter that “with mutual respect, anything possible”. The interim deal was due to expire on June 30, then July 7 and then Friday. A preliminary deal was reached in April. It would have to be renewed a third time if the talks go beyond Friday.
The mooted deal between Iran and the P5+1 group – Britain, China, France, Germany, Russian Federation and the United States – is aimed at ending a 13-year standoff by curbing Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
“On one main issue, a Western minister looked at [Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad] Zarif and said he would be withdrawing”.
Mogherini’s spokeswoman quickly retweeted the Iranian diplomat’s message, apparently acknowledging the olive branch that had been extended shortly before most foreign ministers from the sextet were scheduled to meet with Zarif Thursday. While the lifting of sanctions was largely agreed, Araqchi said Tehran’s demand for an end to a United Nations Security Council arms embargo was among the most contentious unresolved points.
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But depending on the outcome of the negotiations and probably irrespective of its veracity, the Zarif (and Lavrov) “never threaten” remarks could provide subsequent narratives on either side with a defining moment.
