Iran Nuclear Talks Extended to Monday Amid Reports of Deal

Obama Frees Up Schedule, Awaiting 'News'

As was reported yesterday, officials have confirmed the Iran nuclear talks were extended another four days from that deadline, giving them until Monday, the latest in a series of short extensions that followed up the initial June 30 deadline.

There was a breakthrough in the talks last Saturday, but since then the official line is that things are going poorly, with claims of the US changing its demands at the last minute and reports of shouting matches in the middle of the talks by top officials on all sides.

At the same time, Israeli media are reporting a “done deal” in the talks, saying that there are plans to sign the pact early next week, and that the deal was reached after the US made some “capitulations over the past two to three weeks.”

Israeli reports are typically negative about the prospect of a deal, of course, but the report of a deal being close does make sense, as the Associated Press is reporting President Obama has been clearing out his schedule for the next few days “awaiting news from Vienna.

On the other hand, reports from last weekend also suggested a deal was imminent, only to be followed up with the reports of changed demands from the US and other Western nations involved in the talks. Throughout all of this, the only official US statements have been repeated threats to “walk away” from the talks at any moment.

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.