After failing to make a June 30 deadline, global powers have given themselves until Tuesday to try to reach an accord putting a nuclear bomb out of Iran’s reach. Iran’s foreign minister said on Friday that a deal had never been closer. Following their bilateral talks, Kerry said that he believed a deal was possible this week, but only if Iran made the “hard choices” needed.
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Mike Harris, a financial editor at Veterans Today, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Sunday while commenting on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement in which he said “genuine progress ” has been made during negotiations in Vienna.
“If we don’t have a deal and there is absolute intransigence and unwillingness to move on the things that are important for us, President Obama has always said we’re prepared to walk away”, he said.
Both USA and Iranian officials have said that while they are both aiming to broker a final deal, they each have their own red lines.
European Union foreign policy chief Mogherini and Foreign Ministers of Germany, France, China, Britain, the USA and Russian Federation, wait for the start of a meeting in Vienna.
If Iran were shown to have cheated on the JPOA, it would make it more hard for Obama to sell a long-term accord to lift sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on Iranian nuclear work to skeptical lawmakers in the Republican-led Congress.
Iranian source told meanwhile told Iran’s state news agency that serious divisions between the two sides remained. “We want to get an agreement”.
Keeping up a what has been a steady stream of criticism, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the United States and major powers were negotiating “a bad deal”.
The aim was to reach and implement a comprehensive agreement within a year, but the deal and deadline have been extended three times.
Earlier on Sunday, Kerry met with Zarif to continue what have become marathon talks inside the Coburg Hotel, which has been hosting negotiations for the past nine days.
Negotiators say they are focused on meeting the July 7 deadline, even as key disputes have yet to be resolved. However, issues such as inspections and restrictions on Iran’s nuclear research and development remained contentious, and these are likely among the core issues halting progress.
Corker said Sunday he was concerned that the Iran negotiations had gone from an effort to dismantle the Iranian nuclear program to “managing proliferation”.
The U.S. and its allies fear Iran is using its civilian nuclear programme as a cover to develop a nuclear weapons capability.
Speaking after a whirlwind trip to Tehran, worldwide Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano said the United Nations watchdog aimed to issue a report by year’s end on the “clarification of the issues” concerned.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke of “sharper” deal contours.
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Reuters, citing a Western official, reported that Iran wants the lifting of sanctions to include those on the ballistic missile program.
