U.S.: ‘Very Hard’ to Clinch Iran Nuclear Deal

Big powers resumed talks on Wednesday on a preliminary agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program with the United States warning it would be “very hard” to clinch a breakthrough deal this week and Tehran flagging “red lines.”

Each side appeared to temper anticipation of an imminent agreement after the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany came close to winning concessions from Tehran in the last round of negotiations two weeks ago.

Policymakers from the six have since said an interim accord on confidence-building steps could be within reach to defuse a decade-old standoff and dispel the specter of a wider Middle East war over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said remaining gaps were narrow in the search for an interim deal that essentially would require Iran to limit its contested uranium enrichment program in exchange for limited relief from sanctions.

“It is the best chance for a long time to make progress on one of the gravest problems in foreign policy,” Hague told a news conference during a visit to Istanbul.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier: “We hope the efforts that are being made will be crowned with success at the meeting that opens today in Geneva.”

But a senior U.S. negotiator was more cautious, telling reporters: “I think we can [get a deal]. Whether we will, we will have to see because it is hard. It is very hard … If it was easy to do, it would have been done a long time ago.”

The official, with an eye to prominent skeptics of deal-making with Iran, including Israel and hawks in the U.S. Congress, said the vast majority of sanctions – particularly on Iranian oil exports and banking – would remain intact after any initial pact and Washington would “vigorously” enforce them.

On the other hand, a Western diplomat said there was still a “very high probability” that foreign ministers would return to Geneva this week to try to nail down an agreement in the negotiations, expected to run through Friday.

A second Western diplomat expressed guarded optimism but said “the ball is in the Iranian court” to make a deal happen.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech as Western negotiators gathered in the Swiss city that Tehran would not step back from its nuclear rights and he had set “red lines” for his envoys in Geneva. By rights, he was alluding to nuclear fuel production on Iranian soil.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Russia on Wednesday to appeal for tougher terms in any accord with Iran after failing to convince the United States that the world powers are pursuing a bad deal.

Meanwhile, American lawmakers urged the Obama administration on Tuesday to take a tougher line with Iran.

The talks started on Wednesday with a meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who coordinates contacts with Iran on behalf of the powers, before a full plenary meeting of Iran and the six nations.

This article appeared in print on page 1 of the November 21st, 2013 edition of Hamodia.