Negotiators: 'Time cannot be wasted' at Iran nuclear talks
US and Iranian negotiators met in Geneva to discuss a nuclear deal, though a new Republican-led US Congress might complicate a potential deal domestically.
GENEVA — A new sense of urgency emerged as US and Iranian negotiators met for a second day here to try to advance a framework for a final nuclear accord, even as gaps remain on critical issues that still have to be overcome for any deal to be reached.
US and Iranian negotiators met at a Geneva waterfront hotel for over six hours Jan. 15, amid indications they are trying to draft a document they could present for discussion to other members of the P5+1— the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany — who are due to meet here Jan. 18. Iran and the P5+1 agreed in November to extend the negotiations until June 30, while trying to finalize a framework accord for the deal by March.
“We are not working on a 'draft' framework, but on the actual framework," a diplomat at the talks, speaking not for attribution, told Al-Monitor Jan. 15. “I think we will know in a few days” how much progress has been made.
While the talks have been “held in a serious and direct atmosphere, we are still far from a deal,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian journalists Jan. 14. It’s too “soon to judge the results of the talks.”
