P5+1-Iran talks to continue after June 30 deadline
By Sara Rajabova
The six world powers and Iran likely to miss yet another deadline. The sides still cannot bridge the gaps to clinch the long-awaited final nuclear deal as the June 30 deadline for a final agreement approaches.
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China -- plus Germany are engaged in tense talks to finalize the text of a possible deal over Iran’s nuclear program.
The U.S. and Iranian officials said talks on a final accord would likely go beyond the June 30 deadline.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Iran and the P5+1 group of countries have shown the political will necessary to reach a final deal, Press TV reported.
She added that the negotiating parties’ teams are working on drafting the text of the final accord and would “try and close all the issues in order to translate the political understanding that we found in Lausanne into texts that are solid enough for the coming days.”
She noted that both Iran and the six global powers stuck to the self-imposed June deadline and are ready to “interpret it in a flexible way” as they have previously done in Lausanne.
Mogherini said the deadline could possibly be extended just for few days and that there would be “no long-term extension”.
Meanwhile, an Iranian nuclear negotiator said there is to be no new stages in the ongoing nuclear talks unless there is a new scenario.
“We want to reach a conclusion by June 30. On June 30, we will hold the time and reset the clocks. The job may last another seven or eight days, but there will be no extension,” the unnamed official said according to the IRNA news agency.
The official said on condition of anonymity that the U.S. Congress is going to go on summer holiday on July 9 and the executive branch wants to hand the nuclear deal to the Congress before that date.
He implied that if the negotiations extend beyond that date, it
will mean that a new phase to the talks has begun and that the
current phase with its specific format has ended.
Many of the foreign ministers, including Iran's Mohammad Javad
Zarif, left Vienna on June 28 following a day of intense talks for
consultations at home.
Zarif arrived in Tehran on June 29 after talks with major powers, just as the June 30 deadline was extended by a few days. He said his trip was pre-planned, but that he would return to Vienna on June 30.
P5+1 Group reached a political agreement with Iran on April 2, while the sides have been attempting to achieve a comprehensive nuclear agreement by the self-imposed deadline on June 30.