U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has pushed back a visit to Vienna, where international negotiators are trying to seal a deal on Iran’s nuclear program ahead of a self-imposed November 24 deadline.
Kerry had been expected to arrive in Vienna in the middle of the week as part of the push for a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear activities and phase out economic sanctions against Tehran.
But State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said late on November 18 that Kerry would remain in London on November 19 and travel to Paris on the morning of November 20.
In London, Psaki said, Kerry would “continue consulting with both the negotiating team in Vienna” and with U.S. officials in Washington.
In Paris, he will discuss the Iran negotiations in separate meetings with the Saudi and French foreign ministers.
Officials have said substantial differences remain between Iran and Western powers.
Officials from six powers and Iran are in Vienna in a bid to reach a comprehensive deal by a November 24 deadline to end a 12-year-dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.
In London on November 18, Kerry declined to make any predictions for what he called a “critical week” and urged Iran to “work with us.”
Speaking alongside Kerry, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond urged Iran to show “flexibility” in the crunch talks.
Shortly after arriving in Vienna, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran would be “resisting excessive demands.”
“We are here to find a solution that respects the Iranian nation’s rights and removes the legitimate concerns of the international community,” Zarif said.
Zarif later had what he described as a “good” meeting with former EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who is coordinating the negotiations.
The talks have been stalled for months over Iran’s opposition to sharply reducing the size and output of centrifuges that can enrich uranium both to levels needed for reactor fuel or the core of nuclear warheads.
On November 17, a senior U.S. official said “very serious gaps” remain between Iran and the six powers — France, China, Russia, Germany, the United States, and Britain.
The official said an extension of the self-imposed November 24 deadline had not been discussed “at this point.”
Several Western officials say it is unclear if Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has given his negotiating team the authority to make compromises.
U.S., EU, and UN sanctions have caused Iranian oil revenues to plummet and inflation and unemployment to soar.
Iran denies Western charges it is using its nuclear program to secretly develop nuclear weapons.
But a report on November 7 by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran was failing to address suspicions it may have worked on designing a nuclear bomb.
Ambassador Laura Kennedy, the U.S. envoy to the Vienna-based IAEA, told reporters on November 17 that Washington is disappointed with Iran’s failure to engage with the IAEA probe.
With reporting by Reuters and AFP