As negotiators from Iran and six world powers prepare to resume talks next month, two new papers by prominent arms-control experts close to the negotiations offer prescriptions for how to overcome key obstacles to reach a nuclear deal.

The new papers, by former US nuclear negotiator Robert Einhorn, the International Crisis Group (ICG) and the Arms Control Association (ACA), propose a compromise that would have Iran agree to reduce the size of its enrichment program in the near term while allowing it to conduct research on more efficient centrifuges. That would enable Iran to expand its enrichment capacity for energy purposes after the deal expires, if Iran still desires to. The new reports seem to reflect a convergence of expert opinion on possible compromise solutions for a deal.

The issue of the size of Iran’s enrichment capacity has been the key sticking point in negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) to try to reach a comprehensive nuclear accord, extended last month until late November. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and their deputies are due to meet in Brussels Sept. 1 to map out a schedule for negotiations to try to reach the final deal by the extended deadline of Nov. 24. Diplomats, technical experts and likely foreign ministers from Iran and the P5+1 are expected to meet in New York in September and October, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly opening session, as they race to meet the deadline for the deal.

If Iran and the P5+1 “resolve the key issue of enrichment, other pieces of the puzzle stand a better chance of falling into place,” states the new ICG report, provided to Al-Monitor in advance of its release date of Aug. 27.