Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who had flown to Geneva at the eleventh hour to try to close a deal, said at a late-night news conference that the talks between Iran and six major powers had been “very productive” and that all sides were determined to continue the efforts.
“We came to Geneva to narrow the differences, and I can tell you without any reservations, we made significant progress,” Kerry said.
“It takes time to build confidence between countries that have really been at odds with each other for a long time now,” he said.
Although a deal had appeared nearly certain a few hours earlier, the talks stalled over technical issues, including details of nuclear concessions required of Iran, and the incentives the Islamic Republic would receive in return. Among the obstacles were disagreements between France and other members of the six-nation bloc known as the P5-plus-1.
Iran’s chief negotiator, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javid Zarif, gave an upbeat assessment as the talks broke up early Sunday.
“What I was looking for was the political determination, willingness and good faith and readiness in order to end this,” said Zarif, appearing at the podium with the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton. “I think we’re all on the same wavelength, and that’s important. And that gives us the impetus to go forward when we meet again next time.
“We’ve done a lot of work. Hopefully we can do a bit more,” he said.
Ashton, reading a brief statement, said, “A lot of concrete progress has been achieved, but some differences remain.”
Ashton declined to characterize which of the six foreign ministers at the table across from Iran — representing the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — had raised objections to the draft proposal. But reports from inside the closed meetings and public statements by the foreign ministers throughout the day indicated that France had been most adamant in refusing to agree to the proposal.
“There are still some questions to be addressed,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said as he left the final meeting.
Zarif declined to criticize the French. “Obviously the six countries may have differences of views,” he said, “but we are working together, and hopefully we will be able to reach an agreement when we meet again.”
The draft plan called for Iran to temporarily freeze key parts of its nuclear program that would enable it to quickly make nuclear weapon in the future if it chose to do so. But the plan reportedly did not require Iran to halt all uranium enrichment, though it did require a full dismantlement of a partially completed nuclear reactor that could, if finished, produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. The temporary freeze was to be an interim step to halt Iran’s nuclear progress as a more comprehensive deal was being negotiated.
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