Nuclear talks made substantial progress, extended seven more months
News ID:56109
Publish Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 18:53:11 GMT
Service: Iran
Iran and P5+1 group of world powers gave themselves seven more months to reach a comprehensive agreement over Iran’s nuclear program.
Western officials said they were aiming to secure an agreement on the substance of a final accord by March but that more time would be needed to reach a consensus on the all-important technical details.
"We have had to conclude it is not possible to get to an agreement by the deadline that was set for today (Monday) and therefore we will extend the JPOA to June 30, 2015," British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told reporters at the end of the talks.
He was referring to the so-called Joint Plan of Action, an interim deal agreed between the P5+1 and Iran a year ago in Geneva, under which Tehran halted higher level uranium enrichment in exchange for a limited easing of sanctions, including access to some frozen oil revenues abroad. The JPOA stipulated total removal of all sanctions.
He added that Iran and the powers "made some significant progress" in the latest round of talks, which began last Tuesday in the Austrian capital.
Hammond said that there was a clear target to reach a "headline agreement" of substance within the next three months and talks would resume next month.
It is unclear where next month's talks will take place, he said, noting that during the extension period, Tehran will be able to continue to access around $700 million per month in sanctions relief.
US Secretary of State John Kerry had earlier told his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif that the two sides needed to consider extending nuclear talks.
Washington's offer of post-deadline talks, published by US media, was made in bilateral talks between the top Iranian and American diplomats.
An Iranian official confirmed the extension, as did Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who echoed Hammond's comments about "substantial progress".
The deadline for a deal, agreed in July when the two sides missed an earlier target date, was Monday.
Meanwhile, a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Monday Iran has reduced its stockpile of low-enriched uranium gas and taken other action to comply with the terms of last year's interim nuclear agreement with world powers.
The confidential IAEA report issued to member states, seen by Reuters, showed the stockpile now amounted to just under 7,400 kilograms, below the limit agreed with the powers last year.
Iran, the United States, Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain held nearly a week of intense negotiations on how to tackle the remaining obstacles that do exist in the way of reaching an agreement.
Under the Joint Plan of Action reached between the two sides in November 2013, a final comprehensive deal aims to give assurances that Tehran's nuclear program is exclusively peaceful and, at the same time, lift all sanctions imposed against the Iranian nation over the country's nuclear energy program.
Iran has repeatedly said its nuclear program, under direct inspection of the IAEA, is for peaceful purposes, including generating electricity and making radio-isotopes for its one million cancer patients.
Source: http://www.iran-daily.com/News/56109.html
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