WASHINGTON
The U.S. and its international partners are committed to meeting an end of June deadline for a comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran, a spokesman said Wednesday.
“The P5+1 remain united in our efforts to reach a final deal by the end of June, and, you know, we believe that if all parties work in good faith, we can achieve that goal,” State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke told reporters after France and Germany’s envoys to Washington raised questions about whether the deadline could be met.
Gerard Araud, Paris’ ambassador to Washington, said Tuesday that it is “very likely” that negotiators will miss the end of June deadline for a comprehensive deal, according to The Associated Press.
If a deal is reached by June 30 it is possible that the accord would be “fuzzy”, leaving technical details to be finalized later, Araud added.
Speaking alongside Araud at the Atlantic Council think tank, Germany’s ambassador to the United States, Peter Wittig, said that even under the best conditions, it would be impossible to provide Iran with the sanctions relief that it has been seeking before the end of the year, Reuters reported.
Iranian officials have insisted that sanctions relief under any deal should be immediate, further complicating prospects for an agreement.
Despite the skepticism from Araud and Wittig, Rathke said that the U.S. is “not contemplating an extension beyond June 30.”
Previous rounds of marathon talks have seen last-minute extensions to allow negotiators time to broker agreements.
The P5+1 group of world powers, which includes the U.S., UK, France, Russia, and China plus Germany, are in the final stretch of negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program.
The differing opinions about reaching a deal in time comes as Secretary of State John Kerry prepares to meet his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Zarif in Geneva on May 30.
Negotiators have been trying to broker a deal that would see Iran's nuclear program come under unprecedented restrictions and inspections in exchange for billions of dollars of sanctions relief. The deal would reportedly freeze Iran’s nuclear program for 10 years.
Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.
