International Crisis Group

Iran Nuclear Talks Extended Through June 30 | Al Pessin

VIENNA—International powers and Iran extended talks on a comprehensive deal over Iran’s nuclear program, with new deadlines reaching into next year.  

More than a year of intensive talks and the direct involvement of seven foreign ministers for the last several days failed to settle differences over how much nuclear enrichment capability Iran will be allowed to have, and how quickly economic sanctions will be lifted. 

The goal is to ensure Iran cannot quickly produce a nuclear weapon, if its leaders decide to do so, and to have inspectors in place to detect any such move.

FULL ARTICLE (VOA)

Photo: U.S. Embassy Vienna/flickr

Iran nuclear talks: Now or never for a deal? | Michael Pizzi

With the deadline less than a week away for a deal to resolve the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program, talks between world powers and Tehran resume this week with renewed urgency. The window of opportunity for an historic compromise could be closing as naysayers in Washington and Tehran — not to mention U.S. allies such as Israel, the Gulf Arab states and even possibly France — demand a harder line from their respective sides.

The recent Republican takeover of the Senate could hamstring President Barack Obama’s ability to deliver on promised sanctions relief — the key incentive for Iran to cede to Western demands and curtail its nuclear enrichment program beyond what’s required by the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Hawkish U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have threatened to revive a proposal that would impose additional sanctions on Iran if negotiations produce a deal they deem unsatisfactory, citing the existential fear that Iran could furtively divert its nuclear enrichment programs towards more nefarious purposes — namely, a nuclear bomb. These threats from Congress could potentially unravel the delicately constructed nuclear cooperation framework between the West and Iran that has already born fruit. (The provisional agreement that expires on Monday has seen Iran, over the past year, voluntarily halt enrichment to the more worrisome level of 20 percent, and accept further caps and curbs on its nuclear work to reassure Western powers of the program’s non-military intent).

Despite the cooperation of the past year, the technical and political gaps between the negotiators meeting in Vienna remain wide. But according to Ali Vaez, a scientist and Iran analyst with the International Crisis Group, “the reality is that both sides want a deal, and no time is better for clinching it than right now.”

FULL ARTICLE (Al Jazeera)

Photo: European External Action Service/flickr

Reports propose compromise for Iran nuclear deal | Laura Rozen

As negotiators from Iran and six world powers prepare to resume talks next month, two new papers by prominent arms-control experts close to the negotiations offer prescriptions for how to overcome key obstacles to reach a nuclear deal.

The new papers, by former US nuclear negotiator Robert Einhorn, the International Crisis Group (ICG) and the Arms Control Association (ACA), propose a compromise that would have Iran agree to reduce the size of its enrichment program in the near term while allowing it to conduct research on more efficient centrifuges. That would enable Iran to expand its enrichment capacity for energy purposes after the deal expires, if Iran still desires to. The new reports seem to reflect a convergence of expert opinion on possible compromise solutions for a deal.

FULL ARTICLE (Al Monitor)

Photo: Bundesministerium fur Europa, Integration und Ausseres/flickr

Iran, U.N. Reach Nuclear Deal | Laurence Norman

LONDON—Iran agreed Monday to allow the United Nations to conduct additional inspections of its nuclear sites after failing over the weekend to reach a deal with six world powers on more extensive concessions.

FULL ARTICLE (Wall Street Journal)

Photo: Das österreichische Außenministerium/Wikimedia