No deal on Iran nuclear programme despite extra day of talks

France cites differences over Arak reactor and uranium-enrichment limits as world powers and Iran fail to reach deal.

From left: the British foreign secretary, William Hague; Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif; Germany's foreign minister Guido Westerwelle; and the European Union's top diplomat, Catherine AsShow more

Geneva // Talks on Iran’s nuclear programme are expected to resume in a week to 10 days after ending last night without a deal.

Hopes of an agreement had risen yesterday when the talks were extended for a third day and the Chinese deputy foreign minister Li Baodong flew to Geneva.

He joined the US secretary of state John Kerry, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, foreign ministers from Britain, France, Germany and Russia and the Iranian foreign minister Mohammed Javad Zarif.

The first doubts about a deal to ensure that Tehran’s nuclear work is peaceful were raised by the French foreign minister Laurent Fabius, who said there were “several points that … we’re not satisfied with”.

His comments suggested France thought the deal was too favourable to Iran.

Mr Fabius mentioned differences over Iran’s Arak reactor, which could produce enough plutonium for several nuclear weapons a year once it goes online.

He said there was also disagreement over limiting Iran’s uranium enrichment to levels that would require substantial further enriching before they could be used for a nuclear weapon.

Iran, which denies any interest in nuclear weapons, runs more than 10,000 centrifuges that have created tons of fuel-grade material that can be further enriched to arm nuclear warheads.

It also has nearly 200 kilograms of higher-enriched uranium in a form that can be turned into weapons much more quickly. Experts say 250 kilograms are needed to produce a single warhead.

Iran says it expects Arak, the plutonium producing reactor, to be completed and go online some time next year. It would need additional facilities to reprocess the plutonium into weapons-grade material, and the UN’s nuclear watchdog says it has seen no evidence of such a project.

Mr Fabius said Iran was opposed to suspending work on Arak while nuclear negotiations go on in an attempt to reach a first-stage agreement and then a comprehensive final deal limiting Tehran’s atomic work. He said that “for us” suspension was absolutely necessary, but it was unclear if he meant France or the rest of the negotiating group.

Mr Fabius also suggested the six powers were looking for an Iranian commitment to cap future enrichment at 5 per cent, which is considered reactor-fuel grade.

“We are hoping for a deal, but for the moment there are still issues that have not been resolved,” he said.

The British foreign secretary William Hague also said there were unresolved issues and “no fixed time for us to reach a conclusion”.

Any agreement would be a breakthrough after nearly a decade of mostly inconclusive talks, but would only be the start of a long process to reduce Iran’s potential ability to produce nuclear arms, with no guarantee of ultimate success.

Mr Kerry and his European counterparts arrived in Geneva on Friday with the talks at a critical stage after a full day of negotiations on Thursday, and he said some obstacles remained in the way of any agreement offering sanctions reductions for nuclear concessions.

The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Friday that any agreement in the making was a “bad deal”. The White House pointed out that such criticism was premature because no agreement had been reached.

The talks focus on the size and output of Iran’s enrichment programme, which can create both reactor fuel and weapons-grade material suitable for a nuclear bomb. Iran insists it is pursuing only nuclear energy, medical treatments and research, but other countries fear it could turn this material into the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

* Associated Press