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 Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said a deal was
unlikely to be reached on Friday and negotiators would probably
spend the weekend in Vienna.
"Now, they have excessive demands," he said of the powers'
negotiating position.
Zarif has been holding intense meetings for more than two weeks with
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to try to hammer out a final
agreement limiting Iran's nuclear program in return for withdrawing
economic sanctions.
They have been joined periodically by foreign ministers from
Britain, China, France, German and Russia, also party to any deal,
which would be the biggest step towards rapprochement between Iran
and the West since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
But the negotiations have become bogged down, with final deadlines
extended twice in the past 10 days and diplomats speaking of heated
exchanges between Kerry and Zarif.
Because no deal was complete by Friday morning, any agreement would
now be subject to 60 days of scrutiny by the skeptical,
Republican-dominated U.S. Congress, rather than an expedited 30 day
review.
On Thursday, Kerry made clear Washington's patience was running out:
"We can’t wait forever," he told reporters. "If the tough decisions
don’t get made, we are absolutely prepared to call an end to this."
Ali Akbar Velayati, top adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei called Kerry's remarks "part of America's psychological
warfare against Iran."
A senior Iranian official speaking on condition of anonymity said
the United States and the other powers were shifting their positions
and backtracking on an April 2 interim agreement that was meant to
lay the ground for a final deal.
"Suddenly everyone has their own red lines. Britain has its red
line, the U.S. has its red line, France, Germany," the official
said.
Back in Iran, Friday provided a reminder of the depth of more than
three decades of hatred between Iran and the West that a deal could
help overcome.
Iranians rallied nationwide for the last Friday of the fasting month
of Ramadan, observed in Iran as "Qods Day" or “Death to Israel day”,
to show support for Palestinians, protest against Israel and chant
slogans against the "Great Satan" United States.
OPTIMISTS
Western countries suspect Iran of seeking the capability to make
nuclear weapons. Iran says it has the right to peaceful nuclear
technology.
Over the past two years, the nuclear talks have brought about the
first intensive direct diplomacy between the United States and Iran
since Iranian revolutionaries stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran in
1979.
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A successful outcome would be a triumph both for U.S. President
Barack Obama and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist
elected in 2013 on a pledge to reduce Iran's international
isolation. Optimists say a deal could help reshape Middle East
alliances at a time when Washington and Tehran face a common foe in
the Sunni militant group Islamic State.
But both presidents face scepticism from powerful hardliners at
home, making it difficult to bridge final differences. Issues that
have kept the negotiators apart include a U.N. arms embargo on Iran
which Western powers want to remain in place, access for inspectors
to sensitive military sites in Iran and answers from Tehran over
past activity suspected of having military aims.
Velayati said Iran had no intention to abandon the talks.
"Iran neither suggests extension of talks, nor rejects it. It is up
to Americans if they want to leave the talks. Iran is ready to
continue the negotiations," Velayati said.
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, a key member of the U.S. negotiating
team, was due to fly to Portugal on Friday to accept an honor and
make a speech, returning on Friday evening.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was also set to leave and
return later in the evening.
The White House said the talks would not likely drag on for "many
more weeks."
A senior Western diplomat said the longer the talks carried on the
harder it would be to get a deal.
"If we're still here in 15 days time, there will be some very
difficult questions that will need to be answered. There will be
centrifugal forces working against us," he said, referring to
hardliners in both Iran and the United States.
(Reporting By Louis Charbonneau, Arshad Mohammed and Shadia
Nasralla; writing by Parisa Hafezi and John Irish; editing by Peter
Graff)
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