Nuclear deal with Iran unlikely
By Sara Rajabova
The time is running out for Iran with the P5+1 trying to reach an agreement over the Islamic republic's nuclear ambitions.
Russia's TASS news agency citing unnamed sources close to the negotiations said a regular round of talks have been slated for November 18 between Iran and the P5+1 Group at the level of political directors but Iranian side rejected the news about the date of the talks.
Fars News Agency quoted an unnamed source close to Iran's nuclear negotiation delegation on October 28 as saying the dates of the next nuclear talks are not fixed yet. "Before holding talks between Iran and P5+1, bilateral and trilateral talks between Iran and P5+1 member countries are scheduled to be held," the source said.
Meanwhile, the sides still couldn't come to a decision over the important issues in the nuclear talks. U.S. State Department's Persian Language spokesperson Alan Eyre recently told Trend Agency that Iran and the P5+1 had reached "significant progress" in the nuclear talks, but there is still "hard work" ahead.
Marzieh Afkham, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on October 28 that Iran and P5+1 have not reached any agreement on any issue so far.
"No agreement on any topic has yet been reached and the only point of accord is the name and title of the eventual agreement which is the joint action comprehensive plan," Iranian media quoted Afkham as saying.
On the other hand, Iran demands the lifting of sanctions on the country outright. MajidTakht-e-Ravanchi, Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs, said the nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 group should lead to the removal of sanctions against Tehran all at once, adding that the country is opposed to any gradual lifting of the bans.
Slamming the West for making excessive demands in talks over Tehran's nuclear energy program, Takht-e-Ravanchi said this is the time for the West to make a "tough decision" regarding a comprehensive nuclear deal with Tehran.
Despite the disagreements between them, the sides are willing to strike a final deal till the November 24 deadline.
However, taking into account the disbelief and lack of will to make compromise in the talks, it seems that Iran and the six world powers may fail to reach an agreement before the defined date.
Dr. Paul Sullivan, professor of economics at the National Defense University and an expert in energy security, said the U.S. policy towards Iranian nuclear program and sanctions against Iran make it's hard to reach the agreement by the late November deadline.
"My sense is that the chances are pretty low," RIA Novosti quoted Sullivan as saying.
He considered that negotiations will drag on beyond the deadline, adding it will take years. "There will be no complete conclusion, certainly [not] before the midterms, maybe even sometime after the midterms," Sullivan said.
Last November, Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - China, Russia, Britain, France, and the United States - plus Germany clinched an interim nuclear accord, which took effect on January 20 and expired six months later. However, in July they agreed to extend their talks until November 24, as they remained divided on a number of key issues.