No breakthrough at Iran nuclear talks, ministers push for deal soon
Tehran and world powers were still shy of a breakthrough at nuclear talks on July 2 as foreign ministers flew in to help push for a swift deal and resolve disputes over how sanctions could be lifted and how Iran's compliance would be monitored.
Iran is in talks with the United States and five other powers - Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia - on an agreement under which it would curtail its nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said some progress had been made and that he would return to Vienna on July 5 evening in the hope of clinching a final deal to end a 12-year standoff between Iran and the West.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said there was a "high possibility" Iran and the six would succeed in reaching an accord in the coming days, though he cautioned that there were still difficult issues to resolve.
"We have confidence that finally the parties concerned will arrive at a fair, balanced and just solution," he said through an interpreter.
He added that they were "faced with some important and sensitive issues which no one can shy away from."
A senior Iranian official told reporters Iran and the six were discussing possible dates when key US, European Union and United Nations sanctions would be lifted and limits on Iranian nuclear activities put into effect.
The idea was to have both sides prepare everything so that the implementation of a deal would start on a specific day, he added. However, the official highlighted a major difference between Iran and Western powers when he said Tehran expected key international sanctions would be "terminated".
US and EU officials have spoken of sanctions being suspended rather than ended, so that they can be reimposed if Iranian fails to comply with a deal.
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Western powers and their allies suspect Iran is using a civilian nuclear energy program as a cover to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Iran denies this, saying its program is for peaceful purposes.
The negotiators missed a June 30 deadline for a final agreement but have given themselves another week, until July 7.
The senior Iranian official in Vienna said Iran would sign up to a special IAEA inspection regime called the Additional Protocol, which would be provisionally implemented at the start of a deal and, eventually, ratified by Iran's parliament.
The Protocol allows IAEA inspectors increased access to sites where they suspect nuclear activity is taking place, but US officials say it is insufficient because it could allow Iran to stall by dragging out negotiations over access requests.
US officials said this week the powers had agreed on a procedure to ensure the IAEA got the access it needed, though there was no suggestion that Iran had accepted it.