Despite reports earlier on Tuesday that the Iran nuclear framework was more or less finalized and a press conference had been scheduled for later in the evening, negotiators are now saying the whole matter has been extended for another day, with talks moving into Wednesday.
Details are scant, but everyone agrees that there are certain, unspecified issues everyone prefers to work out before issuing the public statement on the framework. A key aspect is reportedly Iran wanting concrete sanctions relief for irreversible steps.
That they’re extending the talks a single day reflects how close such a deal must be, despite protestations from US officials that there are “several difficult issues” to be resolved.
Ultimately, the framework is expected to be quite broad, only 2-3 pages, and any matters not resolved would simply be left vague, and punted down the road for the talks on a final deal, which are very tentatively meant to end at the end of June, but will almost certainly continue beyond that date.
