BICOM

Ahead of the latest round of nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 forum (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany), US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that “substantial gaps” remain between Tehran’s rhetoric and what Iran is willing to do to reach a long-term nuclear accord.

Iran and the P5+1 concluded a six-month agreement in Geneva in November, which saw Tehran reduce some of its enrichment capacity in return for a loosening of selected sanctions. However, both sides are now looking to broker a longer-term settlement, although wide gaps reportedly remain, especially over the number of permitted centrifuges.

In an op-ed in the Washington Post, US Secretary of State John Kerry warns that July 20, the self-imposed “deadline to negotiate a comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, is fast approaching.” Kerry acknowledged that “There may be pressure to put more time on the clock,” but that the P5+1 “will not consent to an extension merely to drag out negotiations.”

As a result, Kerry said “Iran must show a genuine willingness to respond to the international community’s legitimate concerns in the time that remains.” Up until now, he explained, there has been “a discrepancy… between Iran’s professed intent with respect to its nuclear program and the actual content of that program to date.” There are, he said “substantial gaps” between “what Iran’s negotiators say they are willing to do and what they must do to achieve a comprehensive agreement.” Kerry emphasised that “These gaps aren’t caused by excessive demands on our part” and that the P5+1 has “showed flexibility to the extent possible.”

Iranian and P5+1 representatives are set to meet in Vienna tomorrow with talks set to last until at least 15 July according to Reuters. Earlier this week, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Sky News that the P5+1 must make a “good or no deal,” warning that Iran must not be allowed “to keep the materials and the means to make nuclear weapons.”