July 6, 2015 | Quoted by The Tower

Vienna Dispatch: Kerry Says “Difficult Issues” Remain in Nuclear Talks with Iran

Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Vienna that ongoing negotiations between the P5+1 global powers and Iran had made progress but that more work was needed before a final agreement could be reached.

The public comments, which were the first made by the Secretary of State in several days, came after a meeting between Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

The talks, which had been set to conclude by the beginning of July, were extended by the parties until July 7. 

Some issues that had been outstanding at the beginning of the talks appear to have been resolved. The AP reported yesterday that technical experts had come to a consensus on sanctions relief.

One particular Western concession on sanctions relief came a few weeks after the talks in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Wall Street Journal had noted even earlier that Iran would receive a monetary “signing bonus” once a final agreement was reached, prior to Iran meeting any of its obligations, and President Barack Obama subsequently described a potential Iranian windfall that would reach $150 billion. Two weeks earlier, immediately after the Lausanne understandings were announced, the president maintained that sanctions relief would only come “in return for Iran’s actions.”

The AP had already revealed weeks ago that a deal would see sanctions against Iran broadly dismantled and that the administration is seeking to redefine some non-nuclear sanctions so that they can be waived as well.

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The scope of the windfall has generated broad unease among America’s traditional Middle East allies and in the halls of Congress. The Iranians are widely expected to use the funds to boost their regional military activities – Tehran is currently engaged in at least four hot wars spread across the region – and their global terror efforts. Jonathan Schanzer, Vice President for Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Congress this past April, “[The] Houthis, the Assad regime, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas. Every one of these groups stands to benefit. They’re all salivating right now at this idea of a cash infusion.”

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Read the full article here

Issues:

Iran Iran Sanctions