Uncertainty looms over Iran nuclear deal
July 5, 2015
Speaking after a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, US Secretary of State John Kerry said, "It is now time to see whether or not we are able to close an agreement.
"Our hope is, we get an agreement that is fair, that gets the work done…But we are not there yet," he noted, adding that there still were difficult issues to resolve and the negotiations "could go either way."
Earlier in the day, The top US diplomat said there was "a genuine effort by everyone to be serious about this" and that the diplomats would continue working all through Sunday and Monday. French, British, Russian, Chinese and German foreign ministers (P5+1) are expected in Vienna for the last series of talks with their Iranian counterpart over the nuclear deal.
Diplomats extended the deadline for an agreement with Iran to July 7, after it was clear that an agreement could not be reached by the end of last month.
Timeline for reducing nuclear stockpile
"Our job is finished and now it's the turn of the ministers to do the rest," Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his country's official broadcaster IRIB on Saturday. The group of foreign ministers would still have to define the exact sequence of which steps Iran will have to undertake and a plan on how economic sanctions would be lifted, Aragchi said.
EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini posted a hopeful tweet during her meeting at Vienna earlier this week.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday also signed an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding investigating nuclear weapons technology projects allegedly conducted in the past.
Once the resolution is passed, Iran will have to dismantle parts of its civilian nuclear plants and reduce its nuclear stockpile, which the west thinks could be used to develop weapons. Teheran has denied the charge, saying its nuclear energy plants are solely for civil purposes.
The agreement will also lift economic sanctions on the country, after around a decade of financial barriers has impoverished the population.
mg/sms (Reuters, dpa)