International negotiators confirmed Sunday that talks on limiting Iran’s nuclear program will continue into July, missing a self-imposed deadline for a final agreement.
“If a few additional days are needed we can take them,” Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, told reporters in Vienna. “The important thing is to manage to translate the political understanding we got a few months ago into a finalized agreement. I am rather positive that if there’s strong political will from all the parties we can get there.”
After meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry for the third time, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif flew to Tehran for a day of consultations before returning to Vienna for more talks. Meanwhile, other foreign ministers from the P5+1 countries — the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — arrived as the effort to find an agreement reached its climax.
Kerry is under pressure to reach a deal before July 9, when the time allotted for Congress to review any agreement extends from 30 days to 60 days. Administration officials want to limit the time opponents have to argue against any deal.
But the pressure inside the administration to reach a deal is giving Iran the upper hand in the talks, former CIA Director Michael Hayden told “Fox News Sunday.”
“I actually fear we have painted ourselves into a corner where we feel that any deal is better than no deal right now,” Hayden said, noting that an extension of the talks would help equalize the situation.
