PARIS - A deadline for resolving a 12-year-old dispute over Iran's nuclear programme may be extended from Monday until March because of sharp disagreements between Tehran and Western powers, officials close to the talks said on Thursday.
US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived later in Vienna, Austria, for what Washington and its allies had hoped would be the culmination of months of difficult diplomacy between Iran and the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.
'Yes, we do want an agreement but not any agreement,' said Mr Kerry. 'We are united, all of us in the P5+1,' he insisted.
Officials privy to the negotiations said they were deadlocked, and an extension was likely due to a number of sticking points. The main ones were Iran's Arak facility, limits on its uranium enrichment, and the speed at which sanctions would be lifted. Tehran's representatives have shown no sign of softening on the key issues.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Wednesday he was 'not optimistic' the mammoth accord would be finalised in time and he, too, expected another extension.
'I know Secretary Hammond is concerned about the gaps. We all are. But it does mean we have discussed in detail the full range of relevant issues that have to be part of a durable and comprehensive agreement,' said Mr Kerry.
Mr Kerry was in Paris to discuss the negotiations with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Saud al-Faisal. 'There remain some important points of disagreement and we hope they can be reduced,' Mr Fabius said. 'That will depend very much on Iran's attitude,' he added.
Iran and the P5+1 have been negotiating since February to turn an interim accord with Iran reached a year ago into a lasting agreement. The deal came with an easing of sanctions.
Such a deal, after 12 years of rising tensions, is aimed at easing fears that Tehran will develop nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian activities - an ambition the Islamic republic has always denied.
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday urged all parties to the talks to show flexibility. Mr Ban hoped a deal would 'restore confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme', his office said in a statement.
Iran insists the unfinished Arak reactor, about 240km southwest of Tehran, is solely for research purposes. It has already promised to make some modifications to the design of the heavy water reactor to limit plutonium output. The US has proposed transforming Arak into a light water reactor so that it produces insufficent plutonium for a nuclear weapon, but Tehran has refused.
'On Arak, we have said we were ready to design it so that the concerns are lifted. This matter is settled to some extent on the technical aspect and there is no more room for further negotiations,' Iranian lead negotiator Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted by local media as saying.
Iranian officials have said the design of the Arak reactor - whose construction is being supervised by the UN nuclear watchdog - will be modified to produce 1kg of plutonium a year instead of 8kg as originally planned. The West also wants a drastic reduction in the number of Iran's centrifuges.
Mr Salehi reaffirmed the state's position that its uranium enrichment capacity must be 190,000 SWU (Separative Work Units) - equivalent to 190,000 first-generation centrifuges - close to 20 times its current processing ability. 'We need output of at least 190,000 SWU within the next eight years' to provide fuel for a power plant in the southern Gulf port city of Bushehr, and for a research reactor in Tehran, Mr Salehi said.
Earlier this month, Russia signed a contract with Iran to build two new reactors at the Russian-built Bushehr plant. There is also the possibility of Moscow transferring some sensitive technology relating to the production of fuel-rod components.
Mr Salehi, who heads the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, also dismissed proposals on fuel-rod storage abroad. 'It makes no sense to make so much effort here to produce fuel and then send it overseas to be stored,' he said.
He also said Iran would refuse a 'special' inspection system for some of its nuclear sites. The West wants increased surveillance of the sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN watchdog, to ensure there is no illegal activity. The IAEA was meeting for two days from Thursday.
In an apparent goodwill guesture on Thursday Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pardoned Iranian-Canadian blogger Hossein Derakhshan after six years in prison for 'spreading propaganda, insulting Islam and co-operating with hostile countries'.
Mr Derakhshan was imprisoned in 2008 in Tehran on suspicion of spying for Israel and sentenced in 2010 to 19 years and six months in prison, Iranian media said.
Iranian bloggers credit Mr Derakhshan - a journalist in Tehran before moving to Toronto in 2000 - with launching a blogging revolution in the Islamic Republic by publishing instructions on the subject in Farsi.
No reason was given for Mr Derakhshan's release.
A UN General Assembly committee on Tuesday adopted a resolution condemning Iran's human rights record and urging the government to make good on promises of reform.
'I'm free after six years,' he wrote on his Google Plus web page on Thursday. 'I thank God. I'm so grateful to Ayatollah Khamenei,' he said, also thanking his supporters and family for their efforts to secure his release.
Posted by Unknown on Thursday, November 20, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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