BICOM

At the end of a third day of talks between the US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Zarif, it remained unclear whether the outline to a deal would be agreed ahead of a deadline at the end of this month.

US and Iranian officials have been holding discussions in order to meet the deadline for the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) and Iran to agree a deal outline over Iran’s nuclear capability. The agreement being discussed is thought to be a 10-year accord, during which time Iranian nuclear development would be restricted. However, there appears to be little provision to regulate Tehran’s atomic programme thereafter. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US Congress earlier this month that this aspect of the deal and a breakout time of just one year would help pave the way to Iran’s nuclear armament.

Kerry and Zarif met two weeks ago and indicated that although progress had been made, agreement was still unsure. The uncertainty appears to have continued this week in talks in Lausanne, Switzerland. According to the Washington Post, Zarif said yesterday that he doesn’t think the foreign ministers of all P5+1 nations will need to converge on Lausanne to ratify a deal. However, another Iranian official, Ali Akbar Salehi said that 90 per cent of the technical issues have been resolved. Meanwhile, a senior US Administration official is quoted by the Guardian saying that the talks are “a bit of a roller coaster,” and that one minute “we’re rather pessimistic and another moment we are a little bit more hopeful.”

According to Julian Borger in the Guardian, some disagreement remains over restrictions on Iran’s nuclear research and development capability. However, he assesses that “The gulf over sanctions is broader and deeper.” Apparently, Iranian leaders want an immediate end to United Nations sanctions once an agreement is reached, with the United States strongly supporting a phased approach.