Iran nuclear talk deadline extended to July 7
VIENNA- The State Department announced the extension of an interim nuclear agreement with Iran that was set to expire Tuesday night, the original deadline for a final deal. The preliminary measures have been prolonged to July 7 "to allow more time for negotiations to reach a long-term solution ... on the Iran nuclear issue," spokeswoman Marie Harf said.
American officials are hoping the deal can be completed by then in order to get it to Congress for approval by July 9, reports CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan.
Talks in Austria's capital restarted Tuesday after a one-day interruption, with Iran's chief diplomat returning from Tehran and insisting he had a mandate to finalize a nuclear agreement. The promise came despite increased signs of backtracking by his country's supreme leader and an acknowledgement by all sides that no pact would be reached by their self-imposed deadline.
The diplomacy has reached a "very sensitive stage" but progress is possible, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said. Asked by a reporter about his day of meetings at home, he said: "I already had a mandate to negotiate and I am here to get a final deal and I think we can." He then continued discussions with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
Zarif returned with Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's atomic agency, who had missed earlier sessions due to illness, an indication of Iran's desire to accelerate talks. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov joined the gathering later Tuesday.
The negotiators hope to clinch an accord curbing Iran's nuclear program for a decade in exchange for tens of billions of dollars in relief from international economic sanctions. But significant disagreements persist, not least over the level of inspections on Iranian sites, how quickly the West will roll back sanctions, and what types of research and development Iran will be permitted to conduct on advanced nuclear technology.
On Monday, U.S. officials suggested that backsliding by Tehran's negotiators may need several more days to resolve. In recent weeks, as well, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued a series of red lines that appear to renege on a framework for a deal his representatives agreed to three months ago in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Asked if he was encouraged by the restart of talks, Kerry said only, "We had a good conversation." The secretary of state, hobbled by a broken leg he suffered a month ago, has kept a low public profile since arriving in Austria last week.
Tuesday had originally been envisioned as the culmination of a 20-month process to assure the world Iran cannot produce nuclear weapons and provide the Iranian people a path of out of years of international isolation. But officials said over the weekend they were nowhere near a final accord, and Zarif flew back to his capital for further consultations.
The U.S., France and Iran have said there is no new target date for a deal, but that another in a series of long-term extensions wasn't being contemplated. American officials say the talks will likely stretch through the end of the week, possibly longer.