Some very difficult issues remain in Iran nuclear talks and it is hard to tell if there can be a breakthrough when negotiations resume next week, a senior European diplomat said on Friday in Brussels.
According to Reuters, the senior European diplomat, speaking to journalists on condition of anonymity, said: “We’ve really made progress, particularly in the last weeks, but there are still some very difficult issues.”
Meanwhile, the Iranian regime’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif says he’s counting on the United Nations Security Council to prevent U.S. lawmakers from overturning any deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program.
Zarif said in an interview that an agreement reached by the U.S. and five other global powers would be approved in a UN Security Council resolution, making it “an international agreement and binding for all states.”
“The current and future governments of Iran and the U.S. will be bound by its provisions.”
Zarif’s assertion has added fresh fuel to the dispute between President Barack Obama and Republican lawmakers over his authority to commit to a deal with the Iranian regime, while contributing to confusion over what role the UN might play, Bloomberg reports.
In Washington, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and lead sponsor of a bill that would bring any deal with the Iranian regime before Congress for review has written a letter to President Obama, taking note of recent speculation that the Obama administration might take a nuclear deal negotiated with Iran to the United Nations Security Council while also taking the position that it does not require congressional ratification.
“Enabling the United Nations to consider an agreement or portions of it, while simultaneously threatening to veto legislation that would enable Congress to do the same, is a direct affront to the American people and seeks to undermine Congress’s appropriate role,” Corker wrote.
“Please advise us as to whether you are considering going to the United Nations Security Council without coming to Congress first.”
Corker’s letter comes amid an arcane but critical discussion of just what sort of agreement that the multinational negotiators in Switzerland are trying to reach, an article published in the Washington Post said.
The State Department said Friday that if a comprehensive deal is struck by the June 30 deadline, it would be forwarded to the Security Council for their approval.
Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said this would be separate from any action the council might take to remove U.N. sanctions if Iran is found to be complying with the agreement.
It was impossible to tell if next week’s talks would produce a breakthrough, the Senior European diplomat has said, according to Reuters.
Six world powers have given themselves an end-June deadline to reach an agreement that curbs sensitive nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief. The Western powers hope to have a political framework agreement by the end of March.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Lausanne, Switzerland, on March 15 for the next round of talks with the Iranian regime.