US Secretary of State John Kerry provided an upbeat assessment of the marathon talks held in Geneva between the P5+1 countries and Iran on a nuclear agreement, saying the negotiators made “significant progress” and that “we are closer now, as we leave Geneva, than we were when we came.” A follow-up meeting is scheduled at the political directors level for Nov. 20. The negotiations deadlocked over French concerns about Iran’s Arak heavy water facility, as Laura Rozen reported for Al-Monitor from Geneva.
It's not surprising that given the complexity of the issues involved, and three decades of mistrust, that a deal was not reached in just the second round of nuclear negotiations since Hassan Rouhani became president of Iran on Aug. 4.