Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (R) stands next to Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi (L) and Hossein Fereydoon (C), brother and close aide to President Hassan Rouhani, on the balcony of Palais Coburg, the venue for nuclear talks in Vienna, Austria.
Citing diplomatic sources, Reuters reports that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif
have engaged in shouting matches behind closed doors during the past 10 days of negotiation in Vienna over Iran's nuclear program.
But that hasn't stopped any of the seven parties in the talks from continuing to say progress is being made. Negotiations will, in fact, continue until at least Monday, the third extension of negotiations since a June 30 deadline for coming up with an agreement failed to be met.
Although no wise person would bet the rent money on it, an agreement could be announced this time. Or they could continue for weeks. The Obama administration has said it will not continue the talks forever, it's also made clear that it won't be rushed by deadlines. Kerry said: "We can’t wait forever. If the tough decisions don’t get made, we are absolutely prepared to call an end to this."
The negotiations to end a 12-year standoff—over what Iran's leaders call a peaceful nuclear program and what the United States and other nations say is Tehran's efforts to build a nuclear weapon or put itself in a position to build one—have been going on intensively since November 2013 but were initiated soon after centrist Hassan Rouhani was elected president of Iran in June of that year.
Both sides have recently accused the other of moving the goal posts in the talks. The BBC cites an unnamed senior Iranian official as lamenting that instead of facing a unified stance on some issues, Iran has to engage in bilateral negotiations with the six other nations involved in the talks because each has different "red lines." While those nations are hard-nosed on their own red lines, they are flexible on those of their negotiating partners, the official said.
A key difference that is now stalling further progress is Iran's demand that, as part of a final agreement, the U.N. must end its embargo on conventional arms and missiles to Iran.
Russia, which, with the United States is one of six nations negotiating with Iran, is strongly in support of Tehran's position in the matter. The United States and France have always taken the view that the arms embargo should not be part of the nuclear agreement. Disputes over the timing of the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions on Iran appear to have been resolved.
Among remaining disputes is how much access U.N. inspectors will have to Iran's military sites and how much Iran will disclose about its possible militarily related nuclear activities in the past.
The latest missed deadline means that Congress will get 60 days instead of 30 to review any final agreement that is delivered before September 9. After that, the review period reverts to 30 days. For some in Congress, despite endlessly repeating that it's better to have no deal than a bad deal, a good deal in their view is one in which Iran totally capitulates. Several of these critics are not shy about noting their favored solution in the matter: bombing Iran's nuclear facilities.