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| Iran nuclear talks go over time with no deal in sight | Iran nuclear talks go over time with no deal in sight |
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| Foreign ministers engaged in talks on Iran’s nuclear programme negotiated through the night until dawn on Thursday but went into an eighth day without a preliminary deal. | Foreign ministers engaged in talks on Iran’s nuclear programme negotiated through the night until dawn on Thursday but went into an eighth day without a preliminary deal. |
| Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, emerged from the marathon session in Lausanne at 6am saying: “We have made significant progress but we do not have any final result yet.” | Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, emerged from the marathon session in Lausanne at 6am saying: “We have made significant progress but we do not have any final result yet.” |
| “We are moving,” he added, saying that a joint statement would be issued later in the day if the remaining obstacles were resolved. | “We are moving,” he added, saying that a joint statement would be issued later in the day if the remaining obstacles were resolved. |
| The negotiations have now gone two days past the deadline for reaching a preliminary framework of a deal that would impose restrictions on Iran’s nuclear programme, aimed at blocking Tehran from making a bomb, in return for lifting UN sanctions. | The negotiations have now gone two days past the deadline for reaching a preliminary framework of a deal that would impose restrictions on Iran’s nuclear programme, aimed at blocking Tehran from making a bomb, in return for lifting UN sanctions. |
| It is the 19th round of high-level talks in the 18 months since Zarif and the US secretary of state, John Kerry, first met in the margins of the 2013 UN general assembly. | |
| Zarif, Kerry, Germany’s Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the EU foreign policy chief, Frederica Mogerhini, held a night session in Lausanne’s Beau-Rivage Palace hotel lasting more than eight hours, ending at 6am. | |
| For those keeping track, it's 6am in Lausanne. That was truly an all-nighter. #IranTalks | For those keeping track, it's 6am in Lausanne. That was truly an all-nighter. #IranTalks |
| The French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, joined the talks at midnight, and the UK foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, returned after a few hours’ break in the early hours. Their Russian and Chinese counterparts, Sergei Lavrov and Wang Yi, have left Lausanne and are not expected to return. | |
| Foreign ministry political directors remained in the conference rooms even after the ministers had gone to bed, and the ministerial negotiations resumed just before 11am. | Foreign ministry political directors remained in the conference rooms even after the ministers had gone to bed, and the ministerial negotiations resumed just before 11am. |
| On arriving back in Lausanne, Fabius told reporters the talks were in their “last few metres” but he cautioned: “The last metres are the most difficult.” | |
| The Bloomberg news agency quoted diplomatic historian Alan Henrikson as saying that a US secretary of state had not stayed at a single site negotiating a single issue for such a long time since the 1978 Camp David negotiations with Egypt and Israel. | The Bloomberg news agency quoted diplomatic historian Alan Henrikson as saying that a US secretary of state had not stayed at a single site negotiating a single issue for such a long time since the 1978 Camp David negotiations with Egypt and Israel. |
| It is almost 100 years since America’s top diplomats spent so much time negotiating on foreign soil. The last time was the 1919 Versailles peace conference after the first world war, Henrikson said. | |
| The talks have been stuck over differences in demands on the amount of development work Iran would be permitted to carry out on new centrifuges, capable of enriching uranium much faster than the existing Iranian model. | The talks have been stuck over differences in demands on the amount of development work Iran would be permitted to carry out on new centrifuges, capable of enriching uranium much faster than the existing Iranian model. |
| A further obstacle has been a disagreement over how quickly UN sanctions should be lifted. While the Iranian delegation has so far insisted they are all cancelled at once, as soon as an agreement is signed, the country’s deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, suggested on Wednesday that Tehran might accept sanctions relief in stages. | A further obstacle has been a disagreement over how quickly UN sanctions should be lifted. While the Iranian delegation has so far insisted they are all cancelled at once, as soon as an agreement is signed, the country’s deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, suggested on Wednesday that Tehran might accept sanctions relief in stages. |
| “Sanctions have originated from various points and we are insisting that in the first step, all economic, banking and oil sanctions must be lifted and other sanctions that are related to other issues should also be determined in a timetable,” Araqchi said. “Unless we have a clear view of what will happen to those sanctions, we can’t go forward.” | “Sanctions have originated from various points and we are insisting that in the first step, all economic, banking and oil sanctions must be lifted and other sanctions that are related to other issues should also be determined in a timetable,” Araqchi said. “Unless we have a clear view of what will happen to those sanctions, we can’t go forward.” |
| Zarif earlier rejected the suggestion that the onus was on his delegation to make concessions, suggesting that there were also divisions among the six nations he is negotiating with: the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China. | Zarif earlier rejected the suggestion that the onus was on his delegation to make concessions, suggesting that there were also divisions among the six nations he is negotiating with: the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China. |
| “We are facing six countries with different positions and interests among themselves and in regards to Iran,” Zarif said. “Coordination between these countries is very difficult but they should know that our people and their representatives in these talks will not accept pressure. There is an opportunity now for them to compensate for their behaviour towards Iranian people but it’s not clear if they will seize this opportunity.” | “We are facing six countries with different positions and interests among themselves and in regards to Iran,” Zarif said. “Coordination between these countries is very difficult but they should know that our people and their representatives in these talks will not accept pressure. There is an opportunity now for them to compensate for their behaviour towards Iranian people but it’s not clear if they will seize this opportunity.” |
| Among the disagreements in the six-nation group is the issue of “snap-backs”, mechanisms in which UN security council sanctions would be automatically re-imposed if Iran violated any agreement. | Among the disagreements in the six-nation group is the issue of “snap-backs”, mechanisms in which UN security council sanctions would be automatically re-imposed if Iran violated any agreement. |
| Western nations want the mechanisms as an insurance against cheating, but Russia and China oppose them on the grounds they dilute the power of permanent members of the council. Steinmeier said Moscow and Beijing had been offered assurances their prerogatives would not be affected. | Western nations want the mechanisms as an insurance against cheating, but Russia and China oppose them on the grounds they dilute the power of permanent members of the council. Steinmeier said Moscow and Beijing had been offered assurances their prerogatives would not be affected. |