It’s always awkward to defend your enemies. In two years of bargaining, each of those demands has been dropped.
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Tehran wants a reciprocal so-called “snapback” measure.
Lifting the embargo is “one of the important issues we are discussing”, said the Iranian official, who briefed reporters on the status of the talks in Vienna on condition he not be quoted by name.
But Iran also sees existing United Nations resolutions imposed on Iran’s nuclear program and the accompanying sanctions as unjust and illegal. That package was extended three times, most recently on June 30.
Secretary of State John Kerry said today that while there has been “genuine progress” towards a nuclear deal with Iran, it could still go “either way” at this late point in the negotiations, according to the Guardian.
“All the cards are on the table, the main question is to know whether the Iranians will accept making clear commitments on what until now has not been clarified”, Fabius said.
Kerry appeared to be cautioning the Iranians against last-minute brinkmanship.
The Iranian diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said that extending the deadline for long will be in no one’s interest.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye. It’s holding Americans hostages.
President Obama and his top advisors contend the deal will achieve several major USA goals.
The powers need Iran to grant extra entry to the IAEA and to reply its questions on earlier nuclear work which will have had army functions.
The deal under discussion is aimed at curbing Tehran’s most sensitive nuclear work for a decade or more, in exchange for relief from sanctions that have slashed Iran’s oil exports and crippled its economy.
Senior officials from the worldwide Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were flying out to Iran, just days after last week’s visit by the United Nations watchdog’s chief Yukiya Amano.
Olli Heinonen of Harvard University, ex- deputy head of the IAEA, echoed Albright’s caution. “There will not be an agreement at any price”, the source said.
A senior USA official dismissed Albright’s criticism, saying Iran had done what it was required to do. “The major powers’ concessions are growing”. It is campaign for a separate peace between America and Iran at a time when the ayatollahs are plotting proclaiming a war against the Jewish State.
Speaking in English from a balcony at the Vienna hotel, Zarif said, “We have never been closer to a lasting outcome”, and he hinted at the possibility of Iranian cooperation in fighting the Islamic State if a nuclear accord could be reached. Reuters reports that with negotiations underway in the city, business for brothels (which are legal in Austria) has been “booming”.
Foreign foreign ministers from six negotiating powers are returning to Vienna and preparing to meet in a final push to secure a nuclear deal with Iran ahead of a self-imposed July 7 deadline.
A final deal could also put Iran and the United States on the road to normalised relations – much to the alarm of Iran’s regional rivals – after 35 years of enmity and mistrust.
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While the State Department had called for dismantling Iran’s nuclear infrastructure in the past, the Obama administration softened that line in the several months since a framework agreement was announced at Lausanne, Switzerland. He offered no details, but said Iran is interested in wording that shifts the critical tone of previous resolutions passed over Tehran’s nuclear program.
