Reuters, New York, 19 Sep 2014 – Iran can no longer “play for time” in nuclear negotiations with six world powers that resumed on Friday, Germany’s top diplomat said, two months ahead of a deadline for a deal that would end economic sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbing its atomic program.
“We are entering the crucial phase of the E3+3 (six powers) negotiations with Iran,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters in New York.
“There is no more room for Iran to play for time,” he said. “We are willing to offer Iran a fair deal. However, for that to happen, Iran will need to move on the core issues.”
Western diplomats close to the talks have accused Iran of making unrealistic demands and an unwillingness to offer real compromises that could allay fears about its nuclear ambitions.
Iranian and Western officials have said that a deal is unlikely to be reached during the talks in New York due to disagreements between the two sides on the acceptable size and scope of Iran’s nuclear centrifuge program and other issues.
Western governments want Iran to have a centrifuge capacity in the low, single-digit thousands so that it would take Tehran a long time to use the machines to purify enough uranium to fuel an atomic weapon.
Tehran has rejected demands that it significantly reduce the number of centrifuges to below the more than 19,000 it has installed, of which roughly half are operating. Instead, it has proposed keeping that number constant for several years.
The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, suggested on Thursday that such proposals were unacceptable: “The status quo is not doable for any of us.”
Iran’s economy is suffering from crippling international sanctions imposed on it for refusing to halt uranium enrichment.