French minister describes Iran nuke talks as 'pretty positive' (updated)

PanARMENIAN.Net - A yearlong effort to reach an enduring accord with Iran to dismantle large parts of its nuclear infrastructure fell short on Monday, , Nov 24, forcing the United States and its allies to declare a seven-month extension, but with no clear indication of why they think they can ultimately overcome the political obstacles that have so far blocked a deal, the New York Times reports.

Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters that a series of “new ideas surfaced” in the last several days of talks. He added that “we would be fools to walk away,” because a temporary agreement curbing Iran’s program would remain in place while negotiations continued.

Late Monday night Kerry’s negotiating partner, Mohammad Javad Zarif, was equally upbeat in a session with the news media, saying with a broad smile that he was optimistic that in the next few months a solution would be found. “We don’t need seven months,” he said.

He added, “If you are looking for a zero sum game in nuclear negotiations, you are doomed to failure.” Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, for his part, went on national television with a mixed message of reassurance and defiance, telling Iranians that eventually there would be a deal that ended sanctions, but also casting the outcome in a victory narrative, saying “the centrifuges are spinning and will never stop.”

But a fundamental problem remained, NYT notes. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has yet to signal that he is prepared to make the kind of far-reaching cuts in Iran’s enrichment ability that Washington has demanded to seal an accord. And it is unclear that his view will change before a March 1 deadline for reaching a political agreement, the first phase in the seven-month extension.

“These talks are not going to get easier just because we extend them,” Kerry acknowledged. “They are tough, they’ve been tough, and they are going to stay tough.”

Zarif said late Monday that the new ideas did not represent a proposal by either side but rather, “We have a compilation of ideas that each side has given the other.” He said he would not violate the secrecy of the negotiating room and, like Kerry, argued that leaks emerging from the discussions — and there have been many in the talks, involving six different nations — make it far harder to reach a deal.

Kerry went out of his way to compliment the lead Iranian negotiator, Zarif, who American officials have described as a creative diplomat who is forced to navigate Iran’s treacherous politics and is uncertain how far the country’s supreme leader will let him go. He and Rouhani came to power promising an end to sanctions that have reduced Iran’s oil revenue by roughly 60 percent, crashed its currency and made overseas financial transactions almost impossible.

Meanwhile, according to Reuters, France's Foreign Minister said on Tuesday talks between Iran and the major powers over its nuclear program had been "pretty positive" and there was progress on key issues including Iran's capacity to enrich uranium.

"On limiting (Iran's capacity to enrich), I found that there had been a certain movement," Laurent Fabius told France Inter radio.