Updated Nov. 9, 2013 11:39 p.m. ET
GENEVA—Iran and six world powers failed late Saturday to seal a confidence-building deal to freeze Tehran's nuclear program, but the two sides agreed they had made enough progress during the three days of talks to hold another round.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton talk before the opening of the third day of talks on Iran's nuclear program in Geneva Saturday. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The two sides were unable to bridge their differences and reach a preliminary agreement in which Iran would curb its nuclear activities in exchange for an easing of tight Western financial, energy and other sanctions. The longer-term aim is to reach a comprehensive settlement.
"A lot of concrete progress has been achieved but some differences remain," said the European Union foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, and Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a joint statement.
On Sunday, Iranian President Hasan Rouhani said in an address to parliament that uranium enrichment is a "red line" that can't be crossed, the Associated Press reported, citing the semiofficial ISNA news agency. His comments repeat past declarations on what the country says is its right to produce nuclear fuel.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said after the talks concluded that the two sides were closer now than they were before the meetings began this week and he believed a deal still could be reached.
"I feel very confident that this can be done," Mr. Kerry said.
But he warned that if progress isn't made "the window of diplomacy does not stay open indefinitely."
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu issued a sharp rebuke to the U.S.'s efforts to forge a compromise over Iran's nuclear program, saying the deal on the table was a bad one. Via WSJ's global news alert The Foreign Bureau. Photo: Getty
A Western diplomat said the talks would resume on Nov 20, and Ms. Ashton, who chairs the six-power bloc, said the next round would be at a lower level, involving senior officials, but not ministers.
Mr. Kerry said the fact that the next meeting won't be at the ministerial level wasn't a sign that they were bogged down. He said the ministers felt it was important for experts to work through a some of the remaining "technical, complicated" differences and that they would return in the next few weeks to finish their work.
Mr. Zarif joined Mr. Kerry in sounding optimism that a deal could be struck in the coming weeks.
"I think it was natural that when we started dealing with the details there will be differences of opinion," he said at a joint news conference with Ms. Ashton. "I'm not disappointed at all. What I was looking for was the good will and determination. . And I think we're all on the same wavelength."
WSJ's Gerald F. Seib and Carol E. Lee say that diplomacy with Iran looks promising, but the politics remain tricky. Giving Iran some relief on sanctions--in return for a halt to its nuclear-weapons program--isn't popular in Congress or with allies including Israel.
France, which had some of the strongest reservations among those taking part in the talks, also expressed cautious optimism.
Earlier in the day, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told French radio there were points in a draft text that France couldn't support. That included concerns about what Iran would do with its stockpile of enriched uranium and a French demand that Iran suspend all work on its nuclear reactor at Arak.
U.S. allies in the Middle East have reacted to the prospect of even an initial deal with alarm.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed against the expected accord on Friday, calling on Western allies to "reconsider" their position after three meetings in two days with Mr. Kerry. U.S. President Barack Obama called the Israeli leader in an attempt to calm the furor.
"The deal that is being discussed in Geneva right now is a bad deal," Mr. Netanyahu said in Tel Aviv after meeting with Mr. Kerry. "Iran isn't even required to take apart even one centrifuge, but the international community is relieving sanctions on Iran.…I urged Secretary Kerry not to rush to sign—to wait, to reconsider. To get a good deal."
Criticism surfaced in Washington as well, where both Republican and Democratic supporters of Israel said the agreement in the works was far too easy on Iran.
Reaching an interim accord is viewed as the "first stage" in a diplomatic process that seeks to permanently end the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program. It seeks to limit Iran's nuclear activities—which Tehran insists are for peaceful purposes only—in exchange for relief from crushing international economic.
The U.S. wants Tehran to freeze the most advanced elements of Iran's nuclear program—its production of near weapons-grade uranium—and to limit the numbers and capacity of the centrifuge machines used to enrich uranium.
U.S. officials pushed back against Mr. Netanyahu's criticism Friday, calling it "premature." Mr. Obama in his call tried to forge a common stance, assuring Mr. Netanyahu of his commitment to prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons, the White House said.
U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, are also all warily watching the unfolding agreement in Geneva. The U.S. has forged close alliances with these countries over the past three decades in an effort to create a bulwark against Iran in the Middle East.
Mr. Kerry visited Riyadh this week and is scheduled to travel to Abu Dhabi on Sunday. But U.S. officials acknowledged they needed to do more to bring the Gulf countries behind their Iran diplomacy.
"We very much understand the anxieties, the concerns, the security interests that the Gulf states have," said a senior U.S. official involved in the Geneva talks. "That's why we stay in very close consultation with them in this regard."
One key sticking point in the Geneva talks is Tehran's demand for a sanctions rollback, said diplomats involved in the talks.
U.S. and European officials have refused to dismantle the core banking and oil sanctions that have caused the most damage to Iran's economy. Instead, they have focused on helping Tehran repatriate as much as $50 billion in oil revenues that have been blocked in overseas accounts and to free up Iran's trade in precious metals and petrochemicals.
There were mixed signals Friday about the talks from the top of Iran's clerical regime. A representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final word on all matters of state, said the negotiations presented the Islamic Republic with an "opportunity—we will either accomplish results or gain experience." At Tehran's Friday prayer sermon, a venue for airing political views of the regime, the conservative cleric delivering the speech said the U.S. and U.K. remain Iran's primary enemies.
Saturday was the third day of talks that included foreign ministers from Iran and five of the six world powers Tehran negotiates with on its nuclear program.
—Inti Landauro in Paris, Josh Mitnick in Tel Aviv and Farnaz Fassihi contributed to this article.
Write to Laurence Norman at [email protected] and Jay Solomon at [email protected]
GENEVA—Iran and six world powers failed late Saturday to seal a confidence-building deal to freeze Tehran's nuclear program, but the two sides agreed they had made enough progress during the three days of talks to hold another round.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton talk before the opening of the third day of talks on Iran's nuclear program in Geneva Saturday. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The two sides were unable to bridge their differences and reach a preliminary agreement in which Iran would curb its nuclear activities in exchange for an easing of tight Western financial, energy and other sanctions. The longer-term aim is to reach a comprehensive settlement.
"A lot of concrete progress has been achieved but some differences remain," said the European Union foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, and Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a joint statement.
On Sunday, Iranian President Hasan Rouhani said in an address to parliament that uranium enrichment is a "red line" that can't be crossed, the Associated Press reported, citing the semiofficial ISNA news agency. His comments repeat past declarations on what the country says is its right to produce nuclear fuel.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said after the talks concluded that the two sides were closer now than they were before the meetings began this week and he believed a deal still could be reached.
"I feel very confident that this can be done," Mr. Kerry said.
But he warned that if progress isn't made "the window of diplomacy does not stay open indefinitely."
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu issued a sharp rebuke to the U.S.'s efforts to forge a compromise over Iran's nuclear program, saying the deal on the table was a bad one. Via WSJ's global news alert The Foreign Bureau. Photo: Getty
A Western diplomat said the talks would resume on Nov 20, and Ms. Ashton, who chairs the six-power bloc, said the next round would be at a lower level, involving senior officials, but not ministers.
Mr. Kerry said the fact that the next meeting won't be at the ministerial level wasn't a sign that they were bogged down. He said the ministers felt it was important for experts to work through a some of the remaining "technical, complicated" differences and that they would return in the next few weeks to finish their work.
Mr. Zarif joined Mr. Kerry in sounding optimism that a deal could be struck in the coming weeks.
"I think it was natural that when we started dealing with the details there will be differences of opinion," he said at a joint news conference with Ms. Ashton. "I'm not disappointed at all. What I was looking for was the good will and determination. . And I think we're all on the same wavelength."
WSJ's Gerald F. Seib and Carol E. Lee say that diplomacy with Iran looks promising, but the politics remain tricky. Giving Iran some relief on sanctions--in return for a halt to its nuclear-weapons program--isn't popular in Congress or with allies including Israel.
France, which had some of the strongest reservations among those taking part in the talks, also expressed cautious optimism.
Earlier in the day, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told French radio there were points in a draft text that France couldn't support. That included concerns about what Iran would do with its stockpile of enriched uranium and a French demand that Iran suspend all work on its nuclear reactor at Arak.
U.S. allies in the Middle East have reacted to the prospect of even an initial deal with alarm.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed against the expected accord on Friday, calling on Western allies to "reconsider" their position after three meetings in two days with Mr. Kerry. U.S. President Barack Obama called the Israeli leader in an attempt to calm the furor.
"The deal that is being discussed in Geneva right now is a bad deal," Mr. Netanyahu said in Tel Aviv after meeting with Mr. Kerry. "Iran isn't even required to take apart even one centrifuge, but the international community is relieving sanctions on Iran.…I urged Secretary Kerry not to rush to sign—to wait, to reconsider. To get a good deal."
Criticism surfaced in Washington as well, where both Republican and Democratic supporters of Israel said the agreement in the works was far too easy on Iran.
Reaching an interim accord is viewed as the "first stage" in a diplomatic process that seeks to permanently end the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program. It seeks to limit Iran's nuclear activities—which Tehran insists are for peaceful purposes only—in exchange for relief from crushing international economic.
The U.S. wants Tehran to freeze the most advanced elements of Iran's nuclear program—its production of near weapons-grade uranium—and to limit the numbers and capacity of the centrifuge machines used to enrich uranium.
U.S. officials pushed back against Mr. Netanyahu's criticism Friday, calling it "premature." Mr. Obama in his call tried to forge a common stance, assuring Mr. Netanyahu of his commitment to prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons, the White House said.
U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, are also all warily watching the unfolding agreement in Geneva. The U.S. has forged close alliances with these countries over the past three decades in an effort to create a bulwark against Iran in the Middle East.
Mr. Kerry visited Riyadh this week and is scheduled to travel to Abu Dhabi on Sunday. But U.S. officials acknowledged they needed to do more to bring the Gulf countries behind their Iran diplomacy.
"We very much understand the anxieties, the concerns, the security interests that the Gulf states have," said a senior U.S. official involved in the Geneva talks. "That's why we stay in very close consultation with them in this regard."
One key sticking point in the Geneva talks is Tehran's demand for a sanctions rollback, said diplomats involved in the talks.
U.S. and European officials have refused to dismantle the core banking and oil sanctions that have caused the most damage to Iran's economy. Instead, they have focused on helping Tehran repatriate as much as $50 billion in oil revenues that have been blocked in overseas accounts and to free up Iran's trade in precious metals and petrochemicals.
There were mixed signals Friday about the talks from the top of Iran's clerical regime. A representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final word on all matters of state, said the negotiations presented the Islamic Republic with an "opportunity—we will either accomplish results or gain experience." At Tehran's Friday prayer sermon, a venue for airing political views of the regime, the conservative cleric delivering the speech said the U.S. and U.K. remain Iran's primary enemies.
Saturday was the third day of talks that included foreign ministers from Iran and five of the six world powers Tehran negotiates with on its nuclear program.
—Inti Landauro in Paris, Josh Mitnick in Tel Aviv and Farnaz Fassihi contributed to this article.
Write to Laurence Norman at [email protected] and Jay Solomon at [email protected]