Four Days Until the End of the Nuclear Deadline; 'Major Disputes Still Persist'

With only four days left until the deadline for reaching a comprehensive nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, news agencies have reported that a Western diplomat stated that major disagreements regarding the lifting of sanctions and the International Atomic Energy Agency's access to Iranian facilities still remain. This Western diplomat in Vienna, Austria's capital, told Reuters and France Press: 'The toughest issues of contention must be resolved in the coming days.' Speaking on condition of anonymity, he emphasized: 'The issue of access (to facilities) and clarification regarding the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program and sanctions remain major disputes.' The Western diplomat added: 'We can agree on some issues, but there are still many disagreements on the main issues.' Iran and the countries of the United States, Britain, France, China, and Russia, along with Germany, members of the 1+5 group, had previously set June 30 or July 9 as the final deadline for reaching a comprehensive agreement on Iran's nuclear program. Meanwhile, the Itar-Tass news agency quoted Russian diplomatic sources as saying that these negotiations are likely to continue until July 7 (July 16). 'Major problems still hinder progress' Meanwhile, Abbas Araqchi, a senior member of Iran's nuclear negotiating team, described the writing of the text as 'especially difficult in the final sections' and stated: 'Overall, the work is progressing slowly and with difficulty.' However, this Iranian official emphasized that 'major problems still hinder progress.' According to IRNA, Abbas Araqchi, in response to a question about a senior 5+1 negotiator's comment regarding 90% progress in writing the text, said: 'Currently, we cannot talk about numbers. As you know, there is a main text and several appendices, and we have made varying degrees of progress in each of them. Progress has been better in the main text compared to the appendices.' The senior member of Iran's nuclear negotiating team added: 'Because the appendices are involved in many details, progress is somewhat more difficult. We cannot talk about a specific percentage. Some issues remain that are qualitatively more important. There are issues that have been resolved but are of lesser importance.' Regarding the possibility of extending negotiations, Abbas Araqchi stated: 'The issue of extension is not currently on our agenda; our intention is to reach an agreement by the designated time, and if necessary, we will continue working for a few more days to reach a conclusion.' According to Reuters, both Western and Iranian diplomats believe the chances of reaching an agreement are greater than the chances of failure in the negotiations. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has traveled to Vienna to participate in these negotiations. This comes as Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Vienna on Friday.