WASHINGTON — Iran and its negotiating partners are approaching the decisive phase in their prolonged discussions over a nuclear deal and have discussed several ways in which Iran’s enrichment capacity could be curbed to meet Washington’s demand for a one-year breakout, sources briefed on the negotiations say.
Amid a sense of urgency to see if Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) can reach a political agreement for a nuclear deal by the end of March or risk a likely congressional vote on new Iran sanctions, US and Iranian negotiators are approaching their bottom lines as they continue to haggle over three key elements of a final deal: enrichment capacity, sanctions relief and duration.