Iran nuclear deal resumes towards the ‘framework’ of a good ‘deal’
The UK says key issues still need to be tackled at talks on Iran’s nuclear program, agreeing with Iranian and Russian delegates that there is “a broad framework of understanding.” Talks continue as the deadline was extended.
Secretary of State John Kerry, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met with Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Lausanne early Wednesday. Their French, Russian, and Chinese counterparts had all left overnight, leaving their deputies in charge.
President Obama surrendering – propaganda circulating in Iran
It was not immediately clear what effect their departures would have on negotiations.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: “We hope to get there during the day.”
China warned compromise was essential, otherwise “all previous efforts will be wasted”.
A deal would curb the nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. Key to deal is to ensure Iran could not assemble a nuclear weapon in less than a year. The Iranians insist that they have no such ambition.
Hammond told the BBC: “I think we have a broad framework of understanding, but there are still some key issues that have to be worked through…Some of them are quite detailed and technical so there is still quite a lot of work to do but we are on it now and we’ll keep going at it. Fingers crossed, we hope to get there during the day.”
Hammond stressed again that he would not sign up to a “bad deal.”
More important are three points that have dominated the talks in Lausanne:
• How quickly or slowly Iran will be allowed to advance its nuclear technology in the last five years of the 15-year agreement.
• How quickly the crushing U.N. sanctions will go away.
• Whether sanctions will snap back into place if Iran violates the deal.
Iran wants them gone for good. Lavrov claims that the U.N. Security Council will lift the sanctions right away, but other international negotiators want to merely suspend them, so they can be reapplied as leverage if Iran does not keep its end of the bargain.
Hardliners point out that “Death to America” rallies were taking place in Iran as negotiations began. Khamenei has continued to give speeches with strong denunciations of Iran’s “enemies” and “the Great Satan.”
The burden of compromise appears to be on America: “You cannot erase decades of hostility with a deal. We should wait and see, and Americans need to gain Iran’s trust. Ties with America is still a taboo in Iran,” a diplomat told Reuters.
