Iran nuclear talks deadline ‘may be extended’

With just days left to reach a deal, last-ditch push by top diplomats in Vienna to resolve "important diferences" may not be enough.

The French foreign minister Laurent Fabius, right, escorts the US secretary of state John Kerry after their meeting in Paris on November 20, 2014. Remy de la Mauviniere / AP Photo

VIENNA // A deadline for resolving a dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme may be extended until March due to sharp disagreements between Tehran and Western powers, officials close to the talks said on Thursday.

The latest round of talks between the P5+1 countries started on Tuesday and will likely last until the self-imposed deadline on Monday.

US secretary of state John Kerry arrived in Vienna late on Thursday for what Washington and its allies had hoped would be the culmination of months of difficult diplomacy between Iran and the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.

The aim is to remove sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its atomic programme, but the talks have long been deadlocked. The timing for lifting sanctions and future scope of Iran’s uranium enrichment are key stumbling blocks.

The UN nuclear chief Yukiya Amano highlighted another hurdle on Thursday – Iran has yet to explain suspected atomic bomb research to the UN nuclear agency, one of the conditions set for lifting sanctions.

“Important points of difference remain,” said French foreign minister Laurent Fabius.

“Some kind of interim agreement at this point is likely, or perhaps at best a framework agreement by Monday that needs to be worked out in the coming weeks and months,” a western diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

US deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken said this week a comprehensive deal would be difficult, but not impossible to achieve by Monday. British foreign aecretary Philip Hammond said he was not optimistic but that there may be a way of extending the deadline.

A senior Iranian official had similar expectations.

“We need more time to resolve technical issues and don’t forget that the time frame for lifting sanctions is still a huge dispute,” the Iranian official said, adding that an extension until March was a possibility. Western officials also suggested March was an option, with a resumption of talks in January.

The officials said, however, that Iran and the six were not actively discussing an extension yet and would push for a deal by the deadline, which has already been extended from July.

Officials close to the negotiations say that Iran wants all key sanctions on oil exports and banking terminated almost immediately, not merely suspended as the United States and European officials have said.

Tehran rejects Western allegations it is amassing the capability to produce atomic weapons and has refused to halt its enrichment programme.

It has been under international sanctions for eight years and the US, European Union and UN measures have crippled its economy.Western powers say the sanctions can be suspended gradually as Iran moves to restrain its nuclear activities, and terminated only after Tehran has demonstrated full compliance with the terms of any deal.

The duration of any deal is also being debated, with Western powers wanting Iranian restrictions to last for 20 years and Iranians pushing for either months or a small number of years, diplomats say.

Both sides are also trading blame about who is responsible for the deadlock in the nuclear talks.

Western officials say Iran also refused to budge on enrichment, despite repeated offers of potential compromises by the six powers.

Western officials say the West is willing to compromise but Iran is not largely because Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not given the negotiators the freedom to make real compromises in the talks. The Iranians, however, accuse western powers of expecting too much from Tehran.

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday that Iran would resist Western pressure to make what it considered to be excessive concessions in the Vienna talks.

* Reuters