Iran nuclear talks push past deadline

An Iranian negotiator said his team could stay "as long as necessary" to clear the remaining hurdles.

April 01, 2015 04:30 am | Updated December 04, 2021 11:05 pm IST - LAUSANNE

Head of Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation Ali Akbar Salehi walks with others during a break in a meeting with world representatives seeking to pin down a nuclear deal with Iran at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne on Tuesday.

Head of Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation Ali Akbar Salehi walks with others during a break in a meeting with world representatives seeking to pin down a nuclear deal with Iran at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne on Tuesday.

With stubborn disputes unresolved, nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers pushed past a self-imposed deadline and into overtime on Wednesday as negotiators renewed marathon efforts to hammer out the outline of an agreement.

Enough progress had been made to warrant the extension past Tuesday midnight, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, although there still were “several difficult issues” to bridge.

Secretary of State John Kerry, who had planned to leave the talks on Tuesday, was staying. And an Iranian negotiator said his team could stay “as long as necessary” to clear the remaining hurdles.

The decision came after six days of efforts to reach a preliminary understanding by Tuesday midnight, drawing in Foreign Ministers from all seven nations at the table — Iran, the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.

After more than a decade of diplomatic efforts to limit Tehran’s nuclear advances, the present talks already had been extended twice, demonstrating the difficulties of reaching an agreement that meets the demands of both sides.

In Washington, White House press secretary Josh Earnest suggested that talks meant to produce an outline that would allow the sides to continue negotiations until the June 30, 2015 final deadline had not bridged all gaps. He said the sides were working to produce a text with few specifics, accompanied by documents outlining areas where further talks were needed

“If we are making progress toward the finish line, then we should keep going,” he said.

Officials had hoped to wrap up the current talks by Tuesday night with that joint general statement agreeing to start a new phase of negotiations to curb Iran’s nuclear programme. That statement would be accompanied by more detailed documents that would include technical information on understandings of steps required on all sides to resolve outstanding concerns.

Those documents would allow the sides to claim that the new phase of talks would not simply be a continuation of negotiations that have already been twice extended since an interim agreement between Iran and the so-called P5+1 nations was concluded in November 2013.

President Barack Obama and other leaders have said they are not interested in simply a third extension.

The softening of the language from a framework “agreement” to a framework “understanding” appeared due in part to opposition to a two-stage agreement from Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Earlier this year, he demanded only one deal that would nail down specifics and not permit the other side to “make things difficult” by giving it wiggle room on interpretations.

But if the parties agree only to a broad framework that leaves key details unresolved, Mr. Obama can expect stiff opposition at home from members of the Congress who want to move forward with new, stiffer Iran sanctions. Lawmakers had agreed to hold off on such a measure through March 2015 while the parties negotiated.

The White House says new sanctions would scuttle further diplomatic efforts to contain Iran’s nuclear work and possibly lead Israel to act on threats to use military force to accomplish that goal.

Critics will likely accuse the Obama administration of backing away from promises of a tougher March agreement. Mr. Kerry late last year said the focus for March 2015 was agreement on “the major elements” of a comprehensive deal that would set a “clear path” for a June deal. If that failed to materialise, “we can revisit how we then want to choose to proceed”, he added.

Obstacles remain on several main issues uranium enrichment, where stockpiles of enriched uranium should be stored, limits on Iran’s nuclear research and development and the timing and scope of sanctions among other issues, according to negotiators.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed his severe criticism of the unfolding deal, saying it would leave intact much of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, including underground research facilities, a plutonium reactor and advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium.

The U.S. says any final deal will accomplish a goal of stretching the time Iran would need to make a nuclear weapon from several months to a year. But Mr. Netanyahu said Washington initially promised “years” to a breakout time.

“In our estimate, it will be reduced to perhaps a year, most likely much less than that,” he said.

Mr. Kerry and others, including Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian Foreign Minister, have said the sides have made some progress. Other officials have said Iran is considering demands for further cuts to its uranium enrichment programme but pushing back on how long it must limit technology it could use to make atomic arms.

Tehran says it wants to enrich only for energy, science, industry and medicine. But many countries fear Iran could use the technology to make weapons-grade uranium.

Key issues in Iran nuclear talks with world powers

>BREAK-OUT TIME

 

The goal of the negotiations is an arrangement whereby Iran would need at least one year to produce enough fissile material -- high enriched uranium or plutonium -- for a single atomic weapon, should Tehran choose to produce one. That is known as the “break-out” time.

DURATION OF DEAL

U.S. President Barack Obama has said that Iran will need to accept limits on its nuclear programme for at least 10 years. Recently Iran had wanted eight years and the U.S. 20 years. They have compromised at 10 years.

 

URANIUM ENRICHMENT

 

Originally Iran wanted to maintain all of its uranium enrichment centrifuges, machines that purify uranium for use as fuel in power plants or, if very highly enriched, in weapons. That was around 10,000 operational out of nearly 20,000. The U.S. and others wanted to reduce that number to several hundred. Now, Iran wants to keep around 9,000 while western official are talking 6,000.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Iran’s desire to pursue > research and development into advanced centrifuges is one of the biggest sticking points in the talks. Western powers are extremely uncomfortable with allowing Tehran to continue developing more efficient centrifuges that would shorten the break-out time.

 

PLUTONIUM

 

Western powers had originally wanted Iran to dismantle a heavy-water reactor at Arak that could yield significant quantities of plutonium. Tehran refused to do so but has agreed to the idea of converting or operating it in a way that ensures the amount of plutonium it could yield would be insignificant. Iran has also agreed not to pursue technology for extracting plutonium from spent fuel.

FORDOW

An underground enrichment plant that Iranian officials say they have agreed to convert into an R&D plant. Western officials would like this site converted into something that has nothing to do with enrichment.

 

STOCKPILES

 

Iran's uranium stockpiles are an important issue because the less uranium Tehran has on hand, the more centrifuges it can maintain. Originally, Iran wanted to enrich 2.5 tonnes per year, but could settle at half a tonne. Western officials say that allowing Iran to produce more than 250 kg a year would be problematic. The remainder would be relocated to Russia or another country

SANCTIONS

The speed of lifting sanctions is another major sticking point in the talks. Iran wants all U.S, European Union and United Nations sanctions lifted immediately. U.S. says sanctions should be lifted gradually. This has become a sensitive issue in the U.S., as Republicans controlling both houses of Congress have threatened to impose new U.S. sanctions on Tehran against the advice of Obama. Obama has said he would veto any new sanctions steps for fear they would torpedo the delicate negotiations. Obama can use executive authority to suspend sanctions but many U.S. measures can only be terminated by Congress.

 

POSSIBLE MILITARY DIMENSIONS

 

The Western powers say it is vital that Iran fully cooperate with a U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) investigation into past nuclear activities that could be related to making weapons. Iran has said these “possible military dimensions” (PMD) are an issue it will not budge on.

MONITORING

Any deal would require a vigorous monitoring framework to ensure Iranian compliance. Iranian officials say they reject Western demands unlimited inspection powers for the IAEA.

 

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