P5+1, Islamic Republic Scrambling to Meet Tuesday’s Nuclear Deadline
“Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!” (Psalm 43:1)
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P5+1 and Iranian negotiators meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, before resuming negotiations about the future of Iran’s nuclear program. March 28, 2015. (Photo : US State Department)
Nuclear negotiators representing six Western world powers have said they are closer than ever to reaching a nuclear deal with Iran.
EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini told the media that negotiators “have never been so close to a deal” as they scramble to meet a Tuesday deadline. While Mogherini remains hopeful P5+1 and Iranian representatives can come to an agreement, there are still “critical points” to resolve .
Western officials close to the talks said that Iran is refusing to compromise on certain key issues and even hardening their stances.
“The Iranians are being very tough on the most difficult issues,” a senior US official told CNN. “We are headed toward the deadline, so in some ways we expect this, but we really don’t know if we will get there.”
By Tuesday, Iran and six world powers aim to agree to a framework agreement that would lead to the next round of nuclear negotiations to work out a permanent arrangement. Negotiators hope to reach a June 30 deadline.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters on Saturday, “We’re moving forward. I think we can in fact make the necessary progress to be able to resolve all the issues and start writing them down in a text that will become the final agreement once it’s done.”
However on Twitter, Zarif blamed the US and its partners for the current impasses. “In negotiations, both sides must show flexibility,” he wrote. “We have and are ready to make a good deal for all. We await our counterparts’’ readiness.”
Two of the major Iranian sticking points throughout the negotiations have been the lifting of sanctions and the number of centrifuges the Islamic Republic will be allowed to keep under the agreement.
Last week, Zarif threatened to walk out on talks unless all Western-imposed sanctions were lifted immediately. His threats echo persistent comments made by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has demanded that any agreement to a nuclear deal will be based upon the lifting of sanctions.
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Regarding nuclear centrifuges, the US is considering allowing Iran to retain its centrifuges in its fortified, underground Fordo nuclear facility.
According to a report by the Associated Press, Iran will be allowed to keep several hundred centrifuges at Fordo while scaling back the number of centrifuges at other nuclear sites, such as Natanz.
Centrifuges are a necessary tool in the process to enrich uranium, which is needed to build a nuclear weapon.
In Israel, officials are warning that the emerging deal will allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon and lead to a nuclear arms race across the Middle East.
An Israeli official told the Times of Israel that the looming agreement is “incomprehensibly” bad and would in no way deter the Islamic Republic from enriching uranium.
At the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the emerging deal poses a danger to all of mankind.
“After the Beirut-Damascus-Baghdad axis, Iran is maneuvering from the south to take over the entire Middle East,” Netanyahu said. “The Iran-Lausanne-Yemen axis is dangerous for mankind and must be stopped.”
The prime minister told government leaders that he had “conveyed our serious concern regarding the arrangement with Iran at the nuclear talks. This agreement confirms all our fears and exceeds them.”
Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/34395/p51-islamic-republic-scrambling-nuclear-deadline-middle-east/#igxUDXKwuX87KWpl.99
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