Iran takes hard line on inspections, sanctions

Work was progressing, albeit slowly, officials said.

He will also meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, IRNA said.

VIENNA, July 2 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday said there was a strong likelihood Iran and six world powers would succeed in reaching a nuclear accord in the coming days, though he cautioned that there were still hard issues to resolve.

“In the final push for a comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran, accounting for the accomplishments of Mr. Fakhrizadeh and his team of university scientists, missile engineers and military officers is emerging as one of the last and most formidable obstacles – perhaps even greater than the question of whether inspectors will be able, on short notice, to step into any place they suspect might hide bomb-related work”. “We will do whatever we need to do to keep the momentum of the talks going”, he said. While the IAEA routinely highlighted a lack of Iranian cooperation over monitoring some locations, Iran has insisted its exclusively peaceful nuclear work was the target of bogus intelligence information.

Asked by journalists waiting outside the elegant Coburg Palace where the talks are being held if he was confident of a deal, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif replied from the balcony of his room: “I have to be hopeful”.

“Expert-level negotiations on some topics have already concluded, and issues are under discussion at the level of deputies to foreign ministers”, Ravanchi was quoted as saying by Iran’s Tasnim News Agency.

“If we can’t provide assurances that the pathways for Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon are closed, and if… the verification regime is inadequate, then we’re not going to get a deal”, Obama said.

The US and some other negotiating countries want Iran to go further.

Negotiators have given themselves until July 7 to reach agreement.

At the same time, the Iranian official said, Tehran would provisionally agree to abide by the Advanced Protocol – the voluntary amendments to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that most nuclear nations follow – until the Iranian parliament ratifies it.

A senior administration official told Reuters that Iran is complying with its obligations under the Joint Plan of Action, which calls for it to convert uranium hexafluoride that can be purified for enrichment.

Tough issues include the pace and timing of sanctions relief, the mechanism for their “snapback” and Iran’s future development of faster nuclear equipment.