VIENNA – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is warning of “serious gaps” in the talks about a nuclear deal with Iran, and if major differences persist, the possibility of extending past Monday’s deadline is seeming more likely.
Discussions on going past that deadline have not begun between Iran and the U.S. – the lead players in negotiations that formally group six world powers on one side of the negotiating table and the Islamic Republic on the other.
One American official familiar with the talks said Saturday the U.S. has not wanted to prematurely raise the possibility of an extension because that could take pressure off the Iranians.
However, as the clock ticks toward the deadline, the official – who demanded anonymity – said discussion of an extension was inevitable.
The United States – backed by Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – is seeking a deal that cuts, and puts long-term limits on, Iranian nuclear programs that could be used to make weapons. Iran says it does not want such arms but is negotiating in the hope of reducing sanctions imposed because of its nuclear activities.
In addition to lingering debate over stockpiles of uranium gas – which can be enriched to levels ranging from reactor fuel to the fissile core of nuclear arms and permissible numbers of centrifuges that do the enriching – Iran is eager for immediate and comprehensive sanctions relief. The U.S. is holding to a strict incremental timetable that would allow penalties to be quickly reimposed in the event of Iranian noncompliance.
Hopes of progress were briefly boosted Friday, with reports that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif planned to fly to Tehran for additional consultations. That could have meant possible progress, suggesting that the Iranians need political approval from Tehran to move forward.
Iranian media initially spoke of a new U.S. initiative that Zarif needed to have his superiors approve, but the Iranian diplomat dashed those hopes, saying he was staying in Vienna and had “no remarkable offers and ideas to take to Tehran.”
Asked about the prospects of an agreement while taking an outside cigarette break from a meeting Saturday, Zarif shouted “Inshallah” (“God willing”) in Farsi.
Margaret Childs and Associated Press video journalist Amer Cohadzic contributed to this story from Vienna.
