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In Iran Nuclear Talks, U.S. ‘Will Not Be Rushed,’ Kerry Says In Iran Nuclear Talks, U.S. ‘Will Not Be Rushed,’ Kerry Says
(about 5 hours later)
VIENNA — Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday that the United States would continue to negotiate on a nuclear agreement with Iran that could endure “for decades,” but cautioned that the talks would not be open-ended. VIENNA — Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday that the United States would continue to negotiate in pursuit of a nuclear agreement with Iran that could endure “for decades,” but cautioned that the talks would not be open-ended.
“We will not rush, and we will not be rushed,” Mr. Kerry said, appearing before reporters in front of Vienna’s Coburg Palace, where the negotiations are underway. “We will not rush, and we will not be rushed,” Mr. Kerry said, appearing before reporters in front of the Palais Coburg hotel here, where the negotiations were underway.
A deadline set by a United States law for a 30-day review by Congress is hours away, but Mr. Kerry’s remarks made it all but certain that if an accord is reached here, it will not come on Thursday. Under the same law, missing the deadline would extend the congressional review period to 60 days, allowing a prolonged debate that the White House hoped to avoid. “If the tough decisions don’t get made, we are absolutely prepared to call an end to this process,” he added.
But Mr. Kerry said that in a discussion Wednesday night with President Obama, they had decided that the strength of a prospective deal, which is meant to guarantee that Iran’s nuclear activities are peaceful, was more important than adhering to a rigid timetable. Just hours after Mr. Kerry spoke, however, a senior Iranian official accused the United States of reversing positions in the previous 24 hours and upending agreements that had already been reached.
“All that we are focused on is the quality of the agreement,” Mr. Kerry said. “If, in the end, we are able to reach a deal, it has to be one that can withstand the test of time. It is not a test of a matter of days or weeks or months. It is a test for decades.” “There have been a lot of changes of positions,” the official told reporters, declining to allow his name to be used.
Mr. Kerry’s wording appeared to suggest a sensitivity to one of the main criticisms of the emerging deal: that it does not constrain Iran’s nuclear capabilities for long enough. The clashing assessments made clear that talks had not only failed to meet the Thursday deadline for submission to Congress for a 30-day review, but were also burdened by thorny issues and even some acrimony.
One of the sticking points in recent weeks has been the schedule for Iran’s research and development of more efficient centrifuges to enrich uranium after the first 10 years of the agreement. Completing an accord later in the summer doubles the congressional review period, which could lead to a more prolonged debate that the White House had hoped to avoid.
That schedule depends on constraints that Energy Secretary Ernest J. Moniz is trying to negotiate with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi. Explaining the decision to continue the talks, which have missed their June 30 deadline and have twice been extended since then, Mr. Kerry referred to a discussion on Wednesday night with President Obama. In it, it was decided that the strength of a prospective deal, which is meant to guarantee that Iran’s nuclear activities are peaceful, was more important than adhering to a rigid timetable
Mr. Kerry did not set a deadline, or even a target date, for completing the talks, but he said Mr. Obama was prepared to walk away if progress could not be made. “All that we are focused on is the quality of the agreement,” Mr. Kerry said. “If in the end we are able to reach a deal, it has to be one that can withstand the test of time.
It was a similar message to the one Mr. Kerry sent on Sunday from the same spot in front of the Coburg. “It is not a test of a matter of days or weeks or months. It’s a test for decades.”
A senior Obama administration official told reporters this week that the American negotiating team believed there were risks in interrupting the talks, because the Iranian side might be under political pressure at home to back away from elements of a prospective agreement. Mr. Kerry set no target date for completing the talks but echoed a statement he made last Sunday — at the same spot in front of the hotel — that Mr. Obama was ready to walk away if progress could not be made.
While the United States sought to put the onus on Iran, the Iranians’ strategy was to put the blame on the United States and attempt to fracture the coalition of six nations facing them across the negotiating table.
The Iranian official who briefed reporters asserted that were still sharp divisions among the nations on whether the United Nations arms embargo on Iran should be lifted.
“That’s been our position and Russia’s position and China’s position,” he said, naming two Iranian trading partners who stand to gain billions of dollars if arms shipments resume.
The Iranian official accused the United States and its Western negotiating partners of having “an emotional obsession with sanctions that needs to be abandoned.”
He said that while Iran was prepared to allow reasonable access to sites suspected of being involved in nuclear work, it would not allow “it to become an excuse to get Iran’s military secrets.”
And he seemed to suggest that some of Mr. Kerry’s demands had toughened after the secretary of state and his aides conferred on Wednesday with Mr. Obama.
In another sign that the talks were likely to continue for at least a couple of additional days, Energy Secretary Ernest J. Moniz was scheduled to leave Vienna on Friday morning to fulfill a longstanding commitment in Lisbon, where he was to give a speech and receive an award. But Mr. Moniz, who has played a key role in negotiating the complex nuclear provisions with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi, now plans to return to Vienna, and the talks, on Friday night.
Though the current round of talks has dragged on longer than even some of the negotiators had expected, the Obama administration sees risks in walking away or even taking a lengthy break from the talks.
A senior administration official told reporters this week that if the talks were interrupted, the Iranian side might face political pressure at home to back away from elements of an agreement.
“It is pretty darn hard for the Iranians to go home and deal with the politics in Iran,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under the ground rules for the briefing. “Everyone understands that once we leave here, we are in less control of what happens in this negotiation. It gets more complicated, not less complicated.”“It is pretty darn hard for the Iranians to go home and deal with the politics in Iran,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under the ground rules for the briefing. “Everyone understands that once we leave here, we are in less control of what happens in this negotiation. It gets more complicated, not less complicated.”
As Mr. Moniz and Mr. Salehi tried to resolve the final issues Thursday morning, Federica Mogherini, the foreign policy chief for the European Union, convened a separate session with Mr. Kerry and senior diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, the five other world powers that are taking part in the negotiations. Mr. Kerry’s wording about the enduring nature of the accord sought by the United States appeared to be an attempt to respond to one of the main criticisms of an emerging deal: that it does not constrain Iran nuclear capabilities for long enough
The foreign ministers of China and Russia are the only top diplomats among the six world powers negotiating with Iran who are not in Vienna, but they are expected to return if an accord is reached. Some central provisions of the accord under negotiation, however, would not actually last for decades. Provisions that would extend to a year the amount of time Iran needs to produce enough nuclear material for a bomb would be in place for the first 10 years of an accord. The measure that would shrink Iran’s current stockpile of low-enriched uranium to 300 kilograms is to be in effect for 15 years.
But other provisions would last longer: the one that gives inspectors access to uranium mills where yellowcake materials are produced is to last for 25 years.