IRIA News

VIENNA — Global experts helping to negotiate the Iran nuclear talks have reached a tentative agreement on how and when to lift U.S. and European Union sanctions against Iran — but the nations’ foreign ministers must still accept the deal.

Iran and world powers made progress on future sanctions relief for Iran in marathon nuclear talks on Saturday, but remained divided on issues such as lifting United Nations sanctions and the development of advanced centrifuges.

One of the toughest sanctions issues still unresolved: How the separate United Nations sanctions would be “snapped back on” if Iran were found to have violated any part of the final agreement with the world powers.

A senior U.S. State Department official said “expert groups” are taking advantage of the time as most of the top ministers involved in talks are out of town to do the detailed hard work involved in the process, noting that it is “clear that there are still big issues that are not resolved.”

The official said the key ministers are expected back in Vienna on Sunday, and that “eventually, this is going to have to come down to some significant political decisions that can only be made at the level of ministers,” followed by agreement from the leaders of Iran and the P5+1 countries involved in negotiations.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met twice Friday with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna to discuss key disputes that prevented nuclear negotiators from meeting a June 30 deadline for an agreement.

Kerry said negotiators have a lot of work to do and there are some tough issues.

Zarif echoed his statements, saying “we are all trying very hard in order to be able to move forward and we have made some progress.”

A senior U.S. official said the White House remains convinced that “if the right choices don’t get made and a good deal is not available” then the United States will be “more than comfortable stepping away.” He added that if talks get “exceedingly close” to a comprehensive deal it is “conceivable” negotiations could go beyond the self-imposed July 7 deadline.

Separately, in a statement on YouTube, Zarif said Iran and world powers have never been closer to reaching a deal, adding that he sees the “emergence of reason over illusion.”

IAEA involvement

Earlier, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano visited Tehran, where he met with President Hassan Rouhani and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani. But he warned there is “no guarantee” of success.

When asked about the video, the senior U.S. administration official declined to specifically comment on Iran’s objective in releasing it.

“What the negotiations are trying to do is to come up with an agreement that demonstrates conclusively that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful and that is the primary objective from our perspective,” the official said.

The talks were aimed at moving forward on sticking points regarding IAEA monitoring and verification of Iran’s nuclear sites under an agreement.

“I believe that both sides have a better understanding on some ways forward, though more work will be needed,” Amano told reporters.

Iranian state TV put a positive face on the Amano visit to Tehran, saying his presence in the Iranian capital showed the will to overcome key sticking points to a nuclear deal.

Despite progress in Iran nuclear talks, dispute over U.N. sanctions persists

Diplomats close to the negotiations said they had a tentative agreement on a mechanism for suspending U.S. and European Union sanctions on Iran.

But the six powers had yet to agree on a United Nations Security Council resolution that would lift U.N. sanctions and establish a means of re-imposing them in case of Iranian non-compliance with a future agreement.

“We still haven’t sorted a Security Council resolution,” a diplomat close to the talks told Reuters. “We don’t have Iran on board yet.”

Senior Iranian and Western diplomats echoed the remarks. Some of the toughest disputes, including the question of easing U.N. sanctions, were likely to be left for foreign ministers when they arrived in the Austrian capital on Sunday, officials said.

“Even if and when issues get resolved at an experts level, there will remain some open issues that can only be decided by ministers,” a senior U.S. official told reporters.