Iran Nuclear Talks Extended Into Thursday

State Dept Insists New Progress Made, But Language of Framework Elusive

Having missed the soft March 31 deadline on a framework for the final nuclear deal with Iran, the international community has agreed to extend the talks once again, into Thursday, as the exact language of a framework remains elusive.

The State Department insists new progress has been made and that they are determined to continue talks at least into Thursday morning. It is unclear what, exactly, is holding up the deal.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was saying, even Tuesday night, that the deal has already be finalized on all “key aspects,” which makes it curious that the framework hasn’t been announced yet, since those key aspects were all it was ever meant to cover.

Iranian officials likewise suggested a statement could be made at any time, though Western officials continue to complain that they won’t agree to a statement that doesn’t sort out some undisclosed dispute.

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.