France says Iran deal 'still not clear' as deadline nears
France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on June 21 it was unclear whether an international deal could be reached on Iran's nuclear program by a June 30 deadline.
Fabius has said he would meet his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on June 22 to assess where Iran stands ahead of the final round of talks on its nuclear program, which begin later in the week.
"We need to be extremely firm, at the stage where we are now, things are still not clear," Fabius said in talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
June 22's bilateral meeting, on the sidelines of an EU foreign ministers' summit in Luxembourg, will be followed by a meeting between Zarif and all the European parties negotiating with Iran.
"Toward the end of next week the ministers will go (to the talks), so I'd like to have an explanation and conversation to see where the Iranians are," Fabius told reporters in Cairo on June 20, on the first day of the two-day Middle East visit.
In Luxembourg, Zarif will also be meeting with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and ministers from Britain and Germany on June 22 to discuss the nuclear talks, an EU source said, calling it "a political meeting in the framework of ongoing negotiations."
Iran reached a framework nuclear deal with the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany on April 2 in Lausanne.
The parties are aiming for a final agreement by June 30 under which Iran would restrict its nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.