France’s ambassador in Washington says world powers and Iran will probably miss an end-of-June deadline for a comprehensive nuclear agreement.
Gerard Araud says it’s “very likely” there will be no deal in the next five weeks, or even afterward.
He says much technical work remains, meaning any understanding reached could just be “fuzzy air.”
“Even if a deal were reached, there would be no relief of sanctions before the end of 2015, Germany’s ambassador to the US, Peter Wittig, said. “It’s not yet in the bag,” added British Ambassador Peter Westmacott.
The diplomats spoke Tuesday at an Atlantic Council event alongside the British and German ambassadors to the U.S.
The three European countries are negotiating alongside the U.S., Russia and China.
The main issues blocking the way to a final agreement between the US-led world powers and Tehran remain the details of international inspections of nuclear technology facilities in iran, and the timing of sanctions relief.
The Iranian regime will have to limit the pace of its nuclear technology program in exchange for any relaxation of sanctions, and allow inspectors unrestricted, 24/7 access to all nuclear facilities – which it still refuses to do.
The regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei vowed last week to not allow international inspection of his regime’s military sites.
Richard Nephew, a sanctions expert and a former member of the US team of negotiators, told The LA Times that Western governments view access to the Iranian bases as an essential part of any deal because of the need for full transparency to ensure that Iran is not secretly working on a nuclear weapon.
“If the political environment in Tehran can’t support agreement on this, things will fall apart,” said Nephew, who is with Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.
According to Nephew, the Obama administration would not accept a deal without full transparency because such an agreement couldn’t be sold in the United States or in European capitals. “This is nonnegotiable, from Washington’s point of view,” he said.