Zarif: We Want to Reach an Agreement in the Shortest Possible Time

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, emphasized that Tehran is striving to reach a 'consensus' as soon as possible following a seven-month extension of negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear program. He stated, 'I feel that it will definitely take four months to reach a political framework for an agreement or a comprehensive agreement.' According to him, after achieving 'political consensus' in the nearest time, it will be possible to 'draft' it 'as a technical and political package.' The Iranian Foreign Minister noted that there is no need to discuss the lack of results. He mentioned that the efforts over the past months, especially last week, have been very helpful, and the reason for extending the negotiations is 'to provide a short opportunity to reach an agreement.' According to the official Iranian news agency, IRNA, he said on the night of Azar 3 (November 24), like other negotiating parties, the Iranian delegation was also interested in reaching an agreement today (Azar 3; the last deadline for previous negotiations). He added, 'Reaching an agreement required discussions about all the intricate details that exist in some issues that are highly technical and complex.' Mr. Zarif stated that looking back at what has happened, no one could have even 'dreamed of such conditions in reality' over the past year. His remarks come as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry emphasized that the nuclear negotiations with Tehran have made 'significant progress,' but stated that discussions will remain difficult in the coming months. Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister and a senior member of the Tehran negotiating team, also spoke about efforts to reach a final agreement with the negotiating countries in the shortest time possible. Mr. Araghchi stated on Iran's state television that the parties 'unanimously believe that in a short period, in the coming weeks, we will reach a comprehensive agreement and immediately achieve a detailed agreement in a short time.' He explained that the seven-month timeframe for continuing negotiations was set to avoid problems due to the current sanctions that were supposed to end today (Azar 3). The Deputy Foreign Minister mentioned that during this time, joint actions will continue, including the provision of $700 million monthly to Iran. Mr. Araghchi reiterated that 'enrichment and the lifting of sanctions' have been key topics in the negotiations. Iran and the negotiating countries in the 5+1 group agreed on Azar 3 to extend the negotiation deadline once again after months of talks. The parties stated that significant progress has been made over the past months. The discussions are set to continue until the end of June 2015.