Saifullah Sani
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Following eight days of negotiations and a busted deadline, a statement is expected soon by the participants in the Iran nuclear program talks.
European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini is expected to make a statement, which will also be read in Farsi by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is also expected to make a statement.
The goal had been to agree on a framework for a future final nuclear agreement by Tuesday. The talks stretched well past the original deadline, and it is unclear what progress might be announced Thursday.
The statement will mark the end of a round of talks that started last week in Lausanne, Switzerland, a Western diplomat told CNN.
Earlier Thursday, as Zarif was walking back to the hotel where the negotiations were being held, he told reporters that a statement was in the works.
Issuing a statement sounds like something less significant than the framework of understanding that the parties were aiming for.
"What we expect today is a statement and the fact that we have all reached common understanding on how to resolve the issues," Zarif said. "But the agreement, a written agreement, is something that needs to be drafted by all participants and agreed upon in a multilateral process. And that would take, hopefully, three months, to finalize, and hopefully less."
Asked if an understanding has been reached on all issues, Zarif replied, "that's what we think we have, but nothing is agreed until everything is agreed."
World powers -- the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and Germany -- were examining the results of the overnight talks without Iran present, he said.
The talks, aimed at reaching a preliminary political deal on Iran's nuclear program, blew past their initial, self-imposed deadline of late Tuesday as Iranian and U.S. negotiators struggled to find compromises on key issues.
But the negotiators have doggedly continued their work in Lausanne, trying to overcome decades of mistrust between Tehran and Washington.
The mutual mistrust has been a serious problem in the talks, Zarif said.
"I believe respect is something that needs to be exercised in practice and in deeds, and I hope that everyone is engaging in that in mutual respect," he said.
'A few meters from the finishing line'
"We are a few meters from the finishing line, but it's always the last meters that are the most difficult. We will try and cross them," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said as he returned to the talks late Wednesday. "We want a robust and verifiable agreement, and there are still points where there needs to be progress, especially on the Iranian side."
Iran wants swift relief from punishing sanctions that have throttled its economy. And Western countries want to make sure any deal holds Iran back from being able to rapidly develop a nuclear weapon.
It's unclear what kind of accord might emerge from this round of talks -- Iran appears to be resisting too many specifics, while the U.S. side wants to put hard numbers on key points.
Whatever it might turn out to be, the interim deal will need to be fleshed out into a full deal by June 30. Some of the thorniest issues could end up being left for that final phase.
But in the meantime, the Obama administration needs something solid enough it can sell to a skeptical Congress, which has threatened to impose new sanctions on Iran. The potential deal is also coming under sustained attack from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
21 questions on Iranian nuclear talks
Iran nuclear talks inching closer to 'finishing line' - CNN.com
European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini is expected to make a statement, which will also be read in Farsi by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is also expected to make a statement.
The goal had been to agree on a framework for a future final nuclear agreement by Tuesday. The talks stretched well past the original deadline, and it is unclear what progress might be announced Thursday.
The statement will mark the end of a round of talks that started last week in Lausanne, Switzerland, a Western diplomat told CNN.
Earlier Thursday, as Zarif was walking back to the hotel where the negotiations were being held, he told reporters that a statement was in the works.
Issuing a statement sounds like something less significant than the framework of understanding that the parties were aiming for.
"What we expect today is a statement and the fact that we have all reached common understanding on how to resolve the issues," Zarif said. "But the agreement, a written agreement, is something that needs to be drafted by all participants and agreed upon in a multilateral process. And that would take, hopefully, three months, to finalize, and hopefully less."
Asked if an understanding has been reached on all issues, Zarif replied, "that's what we think we have, but nothing is agreed until everything is agreed."
World powers -- the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and Germany -- were examining the results of the overnight talks without Iran present, he said.
The talks, aimed at reaching a preliminary political deal on Iran's nuclear program, blew past their initial, self-imposed deadline of late Tuesday as Iranian and U.S. negotiators struggled to find compromises on key issues.
But the negotiators have doggedly continued their work in Lausanne, trying to overcome decades of mistrust between Tehran and Washington.
The mutual mistrust has been a serious problem in the talks, Zarif said.
"I believe respect is something that needs to be exercised in practice and in deeds, and I hope that everyone is engaging in that in mutual respect," he said.
'A few meters from the finishing line'
"We are a few meters from the finishing line, but it's always the last meters that are the most difficult. We will try and cross them," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said as he returned to the talks late Wednesday. "We want a robust and verifiable agreement, and there are still points where there needs to be progress, especially on the Iranian side."
Iran wants swift relief from punishing sanctions that have throttled its economy. And Western countries want to make sure any deal holds Iran back from being able to rapidly develop a nuclear weapon.
It's unclear what kind of accord might emerge from this round of talks -- Iran appears to be resisting too many specifics, while the U.S. side wants to put hard numbers on key points.
Whatever it might turn out to be, the interim deal will need to be fleshed out into a full deal by June 30. Some of the thorniest issues could end up being left for that final phase.
But in the meantime, the Obama administration needs something solid enough it can sell to a skeptical Congress, which has threatened to impose new sanctions on Iran. The potential deal is also coming under sustained attack from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
21 questions on Iranian nuclear talks
Iran nuclear talks inching closer to 'finishing line' - CNN.com
