Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 15
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif says that achieving a final agreement on country's nuclear case seems to be impossible before the Nov. 24 deadline.
The top diplomat underlined that even if Iran and the P5+1 achieve a general consensus over various nuclear topics, the details will need more time to be discussed, Iran's ICANA news agency reported Aug. 15.
Zarif also went on to note that the nuclear talks with the West were constructive in general.
"We believe that if the western side has a strong will, the nuclear issue will be resolved in shorter period," he stated.
"It seems that the western part has moved more cautiously in the recent 6-7 months' negotiations," Zarif argued.
Iran and the P5+1(five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) agreed to extend their nuclear negotiations for another four months until November 24 after failing to meet the July 20 deadline to reach a deal on curbing the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for ending sanctions.
Under the extension agreement the U.S. will give Tehran access to an additional $2.8 billion in oil export revenues frozen abroad by the U.S. sanctions in four stages of $500 million and two stages of $400 million.
In return, Iran besides diluting its 2 percent enriched uranium stock will convert a quarter of its stockpile of 20 percent-enriched uranium oxide, 25 kilograms, into fuel plates, which would make it almost impossible to convert it back into gas that could be further enriched to weapons grade.
The two sides sealed an interim deal in Geneva, on November 23, 2013, for a six-month period. The deal, which took effect on January 20, expired on July 20.
Under the deal, dubbed the Geneva Joint Plan of Action, the six countries undertook to provide Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities.
The U.S. and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies. The Islamic Republic has on numerous occasions stated that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, using nuclear energy for medical research instead.