Deadline for Iran nuclear deal extended to June

Talks on to resume in December, with February target for a framework agreement.

The former EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and the Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sit at the negotiating table in Vienna on November 24, 2014, during talks on Iran’s nuclear prShow more

New York // Negotiations between six world powers and Iran over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme will be extended until June 30, as Monday’s deadline passed with no final agreement after a year of intensive talks.

While the negotiations between the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China – known as the P5+1 – and Iran will continue until mid 2015, the goal is to reach a framework accord by the end of February, Britain’s foreign secretary said in Vienna, where the latest round of talks were held.

“All parties agreed we would maintain momentum, that the negotiations will go on. There will be further meetings in December and our clear target is to reach a headline agreement, an agreement on substance, in the next three months or so,” Philip Hammond said.

He said the goal was for the precise technical details that would form the basis of a final deal to be hammered out in the remaining months. “We can’t afford to stop now,” Mr Hammond added.

The extension will keep in place the terms of the interim agreement that was struck a year ago, and Mr Hammond said US$700 million (Dh2.57 billion) in Iranian assets will be unfrozen per month.

The interim deal temporarily loosened some of the crippling economic sanctions placed on Iran over the past 12 years, in exchange for the halting and rolling back of Iran’s uranium enrichment activities as well as international inspections of the declared sites that house its nuclear programme.

Tehran claims the programme is for energy and medical purposes, but world powers say the true purpose is to give Iran the ability to build an atomic weapon.

The Obama administration has invested significant political capital both abroad and in Washington to pursue the talks, which US officials believe will help stabilise a region engulfed in turmoil by bringing Iran into the international community and forestalling the possibility of military action against the country.

But Washington’s traditional Middle East allies have watched with alarm the growing detente between the long-time enemies that has included the talks as well as tacit cooperation in the fight against ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

Arab Gulf countries and Israel fear that a deal will end Iran’s international isolation and bolster its economy, emboldening Tehran to pursue its regional power ambitions while potentially retaining significant enrichment capabilities that it could direct towards weapons production in the future. Tehran is already locked in a cold war with Riyadh over regional influence.

Walter Steinmeier, the German foreign minister, said in Vienna that the P5 + 1 negotiators “bear responsibility not just for us six but for many states in the world that have legitimate security concerns about the development of the Iranian nuclear programme”.

The latest round of negotiations lasted for six days, but breakthroughs on the key issues failed to materialise, despite reports of positive momentum.

These included the number of enrichment centrifuges Iran would be allowed to keep, the time frame for the lifting of sanctions, and the scope of a tough inspections regime. There are fears that Iran has undeclared nuclear facilities that could be used to clandestinely pursue a weapons programme.

While the additional seven months will give negotiators breathing room in the complex, technical talks, the new deadline could be rendered moot by the highly sceptical political mood in both Tehran and Washington.

The new US congress, which will take office in January, is now controlled by a Republican party dead set against the Iran talks and allowing US president Barack Obama to win any policy victories ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

The new Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, said during the midterm election campaign that he would seek to pass a bill on increased sanctions on Iran that his Democratic predecessor blocked earlier this year. Supporters of the new law say the only way to force important concessions from Iran is through more sanctions, not relief from current ones.

Administration officials say new sanctions would end any hope for an agreement and Iran would return to its enrichment activities, putting the sides on a path to war.

With significant support even among Democratic legislators for new sanctions, however, Mr Obama may be forced to veto the bill and temporarily lift sanctions through an executive action if a deal is reached. But without congressional approval to permanently lift sanctions, Iran’s leadership may be unwilling to strike a final accord.

In an interview aired on Sunday with ABC’s This Week, Mr Obama struck an optimistic note about his ability to persuade a hostile Congress. “I’m confident that if we reach a deal that is verifiable and ensures that Iran does not have breakout capacity, that not only can I persuade Congress, but I can persuade the American people that it’s the right thing to do,” Mr Obama said.

The UN atomic watchdog has said in its latest report that Iran this month reduced its stockpile of low-enriched uranium to below the level required under the terms of last year’s interim nuclear agreement.

* With reporting by Reuters