With a deadline looming, Secretary of State John Kerry is warning of “big gaps” as a coalition of global powers seeks to finalize negotiations on a nuclear deal with Iran.
Nov. 24 is the deadline for negotiations, but Reuters reported Saturday that the negotiators had made “no significant” progress on the two main issues: Iran’s capacity to enrich uranium, and western nations lifting sanctions they’ve had in place against Iran.
“We hope we’re making careful progress,” Kerry said. “But we have big gaps. We still have some serious gaps, which we’re working to close.”
The negotiating group includes the UN Security Council — the U.S., the United Kingdom, China, Russia and France — plus Germany.
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“The chances of reaching a deal in the next 48 hours are very small,” a European source told Reuters. “Our feeling is that [Iran’s negotiators] don’t have a lot of flexibility.”
Kerry called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Saturday to brief him on the talks.
Last month Kerry was forced to call Netanyahu to apologize after the Atlantic published a story about Obama administration officials anonymously calling Netanyahu “chickenshit.” The same article included details of officials saying the U.S. believes Israel is unlikely to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, and that Netanyahu is a “coward” who is “scared to launch wars.”
Negotiators have already extended the talks before, so there remains the possibility of another extension.
