Lausanne: The US abandoned late yesterday a midnight deadline to agree the outlines of a nuclear deal with Iran but insisted that “enough progress” merited extending marathon talks for today.
“We’ve made enough progress in the last days to merit staying until Wednesday. There are several difficult issues still remaining,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said.
The announcement came late on a sixth day of talks in Switzerland aimed at laying the groundwork for a deal that world powers hope will prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian programme.
The stakes are high, with fears that failure to reach a deal may set the United States and Israel on a road to military action to thwart Iran’s nuclear drive, which Tehran says is purely peaceful.
Earlier Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi left the crunch talks in Lausanne as his French counterpart Laurent Fabius said that the negotiations were “complicated... long and difficult”.
A German diplomatic source also said the talks were “difficult” with a “changeable atmosphere” and “frequent breaks to negotiate in smaller groups”.
A Western diplomat said the army of technical and sanctions experts would continue plugging away “for the next hours. All parties are working hard and are committed to finding a solution.”
Senior Iranian negotiator Hamid Baidinejad said: “We are ready to continue. We are not watching the clock.”AFP
