The possibility of extending talks about Iran’s nuclear programme beyond a November deadline entered into view Wednesday as US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif negotiated in Vienna.
Kerry, Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met to tackle the remaining disagreements on a deal that would end the stand-off over Iran’s nuclear programme.
The deal would curb Iran’s nuclear activities in order to lower the risk that the country can build nuclear weapons. The six powers negotiating with Iran have promised to lift sanctions in return.
An Iranian delegation source said it would be no catastrophe if the talks went on beyond the self-imposed November 24 deadline set by Iran and the sextet consisting of Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany.
Iran hopes to reach a temporary agreement by that date, and to iron out remaining issues by March, Iranian sources told dpa.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that the deadline was not “sacred.”
However, the European Union and the US have been opposed to prolonging the negotiations, after a decision was already taken in July to extend the process until November.
“The status quo is that nothing has been solved yet,” Zarif said before meeting Kerry. “There will not be an agreement unless all topics in the package have been resolved.”
Iran and the sextet do not yet see eye to eye about how much – and for how long – Iran will have to scale back its uranium enrichment, and about how fast and in what sequence sanctions will be lifted.
GNA
