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.
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.
Could this actually work? I am doubtful. But I hope for the best.
This is not going to detract from the Congress's attempts to do the Israelis bidding…it's probably the reason Boner and his sycophants ran off to Jerusalem to kneel at Netanyahoo's feet.
Is that a big, fat check in Boner's back pocket? Bet it isn't made-out to the folks in his Ohio district!
This won't be the best thing for Iran but it will be the best thing for the US. This will set off the biggest s**tfest EVER and it will expose the neocons once and for all.
I'm continually surprised at how much the Iranians have bent over backward on this. They didn't owe anyone a "deal" in the first place. There's never been any reason to believe they're in violation of their obligations under NPT to not develop nuclear weapons. And then every time they are willing to make a "deal" anyway, the US moves the goalposts to prevent it from happening. I'd tell the US to go pound sand.
IMO, this has been all about getting the sanctions lifted – the nuke thing was irrelevant since the Iranians have stated pretty clearly that they have no intention to build a nuke…if one takes what they say on faith. After all, all governments have track records of lying when it is convenient. But the sanctions have severely hamstrung the Iranian economy and getting them lifted will be a boon for them. Unfortunately, the Israelis and by default the US (because the US almost always does what the Israelis ask) are not interested in lifting the sanctions. They're afraid that once there is a deal, the UN will lift the sanctions and if the US does not follow suit, the US becomes more of a pariah than they currently are.
But, as always, my opinion…
p.s. If the sanctions are lifted, the current progressive government of Iran will have the large majority of the people behind them for a long time.