From left: Robert Malley, of the US National Security Council, US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, US Secretary of State John Kerry, US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Head of Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wait for a meeting, Friday, March 27, 2015 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Despite reports earlier on Tuesday that the Iran nuclear framework was more or less finalized and a press conference had been scheduled for later in the evening, negotiators are now saying the whole matter has been extended for another day, with talks moving into Wednesday.
Details are scant, but everyone agrees that there are certain, unspecified issues everyone prefers to work out before issuing the public statement on the framework. A key aspect is reportedly Iran wanting concrete sanctions relief for irreversible steps.
That they’re extending the talks a single day reflects how close such a deal must be, despite protestations from US officials that there are “several difficult issues” to be resolved.
Ultimately, the framework is expected to be quite broad, only 2-3 pages, and any matters not resolved would simply be left vague, and punted down the road for the talks on a final deal, which are very tentatively meant to end at the end of June, but will almost certainly continue beyond that date.