BICOM

Talks between the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) and Iran to broker a long-term agreement over Tehran’s nuclear programme ended on Friday with no real sign of progress having been made.

An interim six-month deal was concluded in November in Geneva, whereby Iran agreed to pause aspects of its nuclear programme in return for a relaxation of some sanctions. Principles for a longer-term deal have since been discussed and last week’s talks were the first attempt to translate this into a workable document. Both sides have agreed a 20 July deadline to reach an agreement.

There was no press conference or statement issued as talks in Vienna drew to a close on Friday. However, AFP quotes Iran’s chief negotiator Abbas Araqchi who said, “we made no tangible progress” and that, “The gaps were too large to begin drafting the text of an accord.” The same article quotes an unnamed Western diplomat who commented, “Huge gaps remain, there is really more realism needed on the other side.” Michael Mann, spokesman for European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, who heads the P5+1 delegation said, “We have had three days of hard work … the negotiations are complex and detailed.”

It is thought that disagreement centres on several issues, including the Arak heavy water reactor, “possible military dimensions” to the Iranian programme and Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity. Commenting on this point in the Guardian online, Julian Borger suggests that Western negotiators are “thinking in terms of 4,000 to 6,000” Iranian centrifuges as part of a deal, while Iranian officials hope to have up to 100,000 centrifuges.

Also at the end of last week, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel in Jerusalem and reiterated the threat posed by a nuclear Iran “to both our countries and to the peace of the world.” Netanyahu called on the P5+1 to “not let the foremost terrorist state of our time, Iran, develop the capability to produce nuclear weapons.”