The fourth round of high-level talks between Iran and the P5 + 1 countries over a comprehensive solution to concerns raised by Iran’s nuclear program is scheduled to start next week in Vienna.
State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf characterized the negotiations to date as detailed, business-like and substantive. Their goal, she said, is to “ensure that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon, that their program is for purely peaceful purposes” and the talks present “the best chance we’ve ever had to get this done diplomatically”:
“We are all sitting at the table, talking in good faith. We are all committed to getting this done.”
Ms. Harf noted that the actual drafting of the agreement has not yet begun, but is set to start during the upcoming round. She emphasized that according to the Joint Plan of Action, “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”
”So we could get to 95 percent [agreement] and still not have an agreement, so really what we’re focused on is getting to 100 percent.”
“This is a very tough negotiation with very complicated issues,” Deputy Spokesperson Harf said. “We’ve talked about all the issues in the first three rounds. We can already see some areas of agreement, or at least where there’s a path forward, and been very clear about where there will be tougher negotiations ahead. But we do feel we can start drafting, and do feel like we can get this done by July 20th. We don’t know if we will, if we’ll all be able to, but we think we can.”
State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf characterized the negotiations to date as detailed, business-like and substantive. Their goal, she said, is to “ensure that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon, that their program is for purely peaceful purposes” and the talks present “the best chance we’ve ever had to get this done diplomatically”:
“We are all sitting at the table, talking in good faith. We are all committed to getting this done.”
Ms. Harf noted that the actual drafting of the agreement has not yet begun, but is set to start during the upcoming round. She emphasized that according to the Joint Plan of Action, “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”
”So we could get to 95 percent [agreement] and still not have an agreement, so really what we’re focused on is getting to 100 percent.”
“This is a very tough negotiation with very complicated issues,” Deputy Spokesperson Harf said. “We’ve talked about all the issues in the first three rounds. We can already see some areas of agreement, or at least where there’s a path forward, and been very clear about where there will be tougher negotiations ahead. But we do feel we can start drafting, and do feel like we can get this done by July 20th. We don’t know if we will, if we’ll all be able to, but we think we can.”
