Negotiators Hope for Iran Nuclear Deal Sometime Tuesday as Talks Continue

Officials Term Final Pact 'Likely' in the Hours to Come

While hope for a final Iran nuclear deal with the P5+1 being settled by the end of Monday night proved premature, diplomats from across the board appear more confident than ever that a deal is only a matter of time, and that time could be a matter of mere hours.

Nominally, the nuclear talks had a deadline of Monday, and while there was interestingly no talk of a formal extension, everyone continues to suggest the talks will continue into Tuesday, with the hopes for an announcement some point later in the day.

With so many of the details of the talks hidden from the public, it’s hard to know how close a deal is, what the obstacles are, and what progress has been made. Still, everyone involved seems to agree that the talks are at an “endgame” point and that a deal is virtually inevitable.

On the other hand, the US was seen as desperate to get the deal done before July 9, and a deal seemed to have been within reach last week. It’s unclear why the deal was missed then, but the US has seemed at least a bit less eager since, with reports from Russian negotiators that the US has changed its demands markedly.

A deal appears to have been so expected for Monday, that Iranian offiials were already tweeting about it earlier today, though they had since deleted the tweets as it became apparent the talks were once again moving into overtime.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.