Continued Iran and 1+5 Talks Amid U.S. Threat to Withdraw from Negotiations

The nuclear negotiations between Iran and the six world powers continued until the last hours of Tuesday, April 1, while Washington warned that if a political agreement is not reached, the U.S. would leave the negotiating table. Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, stated, "If American negotiators cannot reach a political framework for an agreement by late Tuesday, the U.S. will leave the negotiations and will no longer wait for the end of June [the deadline for a comprehensive nuclear agreement]." However, Mr. Earnest also added that if the talks are constructive and forward-moving, the U.S. would seek to extend the negotiations. Meanwhile, Marie Harf, the U.S. State Department spokeswoman, also mentioned the possibility of continuing the nuclear talks until Wednesday, while it had previously been announced that the goal of this round of negotiations was to reach a political understanding by the end of Tuesday. Nevertheless, Ms. Harf stated, "In these final days, we have made enough progress that it is worth continuing until Wednesday. There are still several difficult issues remaining." Among the latest confirmed reports from the negotiations on Tuesday is the return of the Chinese Foreign Minister to Beijing, although diplomats present in the negotiations indicated that the Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister remains in Lausanne. On the other hand, the Russian Foreign Minister, who had left the negotiations on Monday, returned to Lausanne on Tuesday evening, having stated upon leaving that he would return if a realistic opportunity for reaching an agreement arose. Meanwhile, scattered comments from some diplomats present at the negotiations suggest that the situation remains unclear. Reuters quoted a German diplomat present at the negotiations as saying that it is uncertain whether the six world powers will succeed in reaching an agreement with Iran. However, some reports and comments indicate that negotiations will continue at least until Wednesday morning, as confirmed by the French Foreign Minister. Laurent Fabius stated that he would leave the negotiation venue at five in the morning. However, Reuters reported that Western diplomats told the Iranian delegation that they must make their decision for reaching a political understanding before Wednesday arrives. Shortly after, a senior U.S. official, who remained unnamed, denied the report about a deadline for the Iranian team. This official stated, "The report that the six world powers have given Iran an ultimatum by Wednesday morning is completely false." Meanwhile, Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator, told Christiane Amanpour on CNN on Tuesday night that the Iranian and P5+1 negotiating teams "have made significant progress and are working on a joint statement regarding the progress made, remaining differences, and the continuation of negotiations until a comprehensive agreement is reached." According to him, "This will be a written statement and is likely to be announced tonight (Tuesday) but more probably tomorrow night."