U.S.-Iran Nuclear Negotiators in Fourth Day of Geneva Talks
(Bloomberg) — Nuclear negotiations highlighted by meetings between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, continued into a fourth day on Monday.
U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Iran’s atomic-energy chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, joined diplomats in the morning at the Hotel President Wilson on the shores of Lake Geneva in the Swiss city. Talks resumed in the afternoon as both sides sought to narrow technical differences, according to a U.S. official who asked not to be named.
The U.S. and Iran are trying to hammer out compromises over Iranian uranium-enrichment capacity as well as the pace at which sanctions would be lifted in the event an accord is reached. Diplomats have given themselves until March 24 to announce the framework for a deal.
The Geneva talks are only one step in the process of seeking an agreement, according to the State Department official. Kerry is scheduled to testify on Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where opposition to a deal with Iran is high.
U.S. diplomats negotiating with Iran are facing other critics. U.S. House Speaker John Boehner has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress on March 3. Netanyahu says he’ll warn against the accord being negotiated.
Negotiators may reconvene as early as next week, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Tirone in Vienna at jtirone@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net Leon Mangasarian, Kevin Costelloe
