Kerry expected to join Iran talks as deadline looms
US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to join Iran final deal talks in Vienna this weekend as expectation grows that an extension may be needed.
Vienna — US Secretary of State John Kerry will likely join high-stakes Iran nuclear talks here the weekend of July 12, but it will not be with the expectation to close a final deal, amid continued fundamental gaps in positions that are increasingly expected to require an extension to the talks.
The Iranians are trying to be creative and we are trying to be creative. But it’s not clear that they have yet made the choices needed to be able to reach a comprehensive deal by July 20, a US official at the talks, speaking not for attribution, told Al-Monitor July 9.
Kerry's travel to Vienna is expected to be officially announced on Thursday (July 10). It's still unclear if some or all of the other foreign ministers from the six world powers that comprise the P5+1 will also come this weekend of July 12, western officials said.
Iran is still maintaining its long-standing position that it should be able to expand its domestic enrichment capacity to be able to fuel the Bushehr power reactor after 2021, when a 10-year Russian contract to provide the fuel for it expires, an Iranian negotiator told Al-Monitor July 9.
