Iran Nuclear Talks Extended by Further Three Days, Clear Will Exists

Local Editor

Nuclear talks in Vienna have been extended by three more days amid disagreements over the lifting of an arms embargo on Iran, but western diplomats remained hopeful that an agreement could be reached by the end of the week.

The diplomats insisted that differences between Iran and six world powers conducting the talks continued to narrow with every passing hour and that only a handful of significant issues remained unresolved. Philip Hammond, the UK foreign secretary, said there was "clear will on both sides" to get the deal completed.

The most divisive issue appeared to be the question of continuing the arms embargo and restrictions on technology that could be used for missiles.

"We have always said this would be one of the most sensitive issues and always clear it would be resolved at the end because it is a political issue," a senior western diplomat said on Tuesday night.

Russia and China were in favor of ending the embargo when a new Security Council resolution was drawn up to incorporate any deal done in Vienna.

The western diplomat said that the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, was able to bridge the rifts on Monday.

"Despite the different approaches we sometimes have, Ms Mogherini was able to bring them together, the group was very united," the diplomat said, adding that when the six nations presented a united front on the issue to the head of the Iranian delegation, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on Monday night, it led to a stormy meeting.

"There was no slamming of doors but it was a very heated exchange of views," the diplomat said.

Marie Harf, a US State Department spokeswoman, said on Tuesday that interim terms freezing Iran's nuclear program had been extended again, to Friday.

"We've made substantial progress in every area, but this work is highly technical and high-stakes for all of the countries involved," Harf said. "We're frankly more concerned about the quality of the deal than we are about the clock, though we also know that difficult decisions won't get any easier with time - that is why we are continuing to negotiate."

Mogherini said that the continuation of the talks did not represent a formal extension and negotiators insisted that the talks would need to reach a conclusion soon.

"This is not an open-ended process. We've given ourselves a couple more days because we think it can be done," a senior western diplomat said.

The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, left the talks on Tuesday afternoon, telling reporters that the arms embargo was the most important remaining issue, although he said eight or nine other issues still "have to be polished".

Hammond returned to London so he could be in Commons for budget, but said he would rejoin talks on Thursday. He said there was "clear will now on both sides to complete this agreement and to keep at it until we get there".

The French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, also left Vienna, saying he would return late on Wednesday night. He listed the three most difficult remaining issues as long-term limits on Iranian research and development, a mechanism for re-imposing sanctions if Tehran violated the agreement, and Iranian transparency over claims of past work on nuclear weapons design.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team