Iran nuclear talks making progress: US

“I believe we are making progress,” Wendy Sherman said in a Thursday interview, adding, “That said, there are still some very crucial decisions that need to be made.”

Sherman described the current round of negotiations as “very, very complicated” and “very technically detailed,” saying, “I think we have made progress while we’ve been here during the UN General Assembly and many leaders and virtually every foreign minister of the P5+1 (Sextet of powers) has had a bilateral with Iran, and it has helped to improve our understanding.”

The US negotiator noted that the parties to the negotiations should make changes in their approaches.

Sherman pointed to the prospect of removing the sanctions against Iran if the nuclear talks achieve a final deal, saying, “I have to tell you as soon as we suspend our major sanctions – which will happen very early in the agreement – the world will flood into Iran. Many international delegations have already been to Iran and so they will begin to see what they can do.”

On Friday, senior Iranian negotiator Abbas Araqchi said nuclear talks between Iran and the Sextet have reached a breathtaking stage.

Iran and the six world powers – the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany – are currently in talks to work out a final accord that would end the dispute over Tehran’s civilian nuclear work.

The two sides clinched an interim deal in Geneva, Switzerland, last November. The agreement took effect on January 20 and expired six months later. In July, they agreed to extend the negotiations until November 24 amid differences over a number of key issues.