Time for decisions on Iran deal
The US and Iran signaled negotiations to reach a political agreement for an Iran nuclear deal are likely to go down to the wire March 31.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The United States said March 27 that it was time for Iran to make some tough decisions to conclude a political agreement on a final nuclear deal in the next few days, as the United States and Iran signaled talks are likely to go down to the wire. Iran’s negotiators said there are still tough decisions on unresolved issues, but said negotiators from all sides are holding ongoing consultations to try to find solutions to overcome remaining differences.
The past two days’ talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif “have been tough and very serious,” a senior State Department official told journalists at the talks March 27. “We’re at the point in the negotiations when we really need to see decisions being made. We will test whether that is truly possible over the next several days.”
Other foreign ministers from the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) will arrive over the coming days, “as their schedules allow and as it makes sense in the negotiations,” the State Department official said. France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is due to arrive March 28, while the British, Russian and Chinese foreign ministers are expected to come sometime over the weekend.
“The fact that [Iran] President [Hassan] Rouhani reached out to the head of state of the P5+1 is hopefully a sign that Ian is ready to make some of the tough decisions it will have to as part of a comprehensive agreement,” the US official said, referring to a letter from Rouhani given to US negotiators March 26 for President Barack Obama.
