Iran nuclear talks delayed again

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his German and French counterparts extended marathon talks in Switzerland on Wednesday for a second day beyond a self-imposed deadline to reach a preliminary agreement with Iran on its nuclear program.

A diplomat close to the talks said late Wednesday that a deal could be announced within hours but had not yet been reached, and the talks could still collapse.

Kerry and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced they would stay at least until Thursday. In a potentially hopeful sign, French Foreign Secretary Laurent Fabius returned for more talks after flying back to Paris the previous day because progress had been too slow.

Negotiations over Iran's nuclear program had resumed on Wednesday after a self-imposed deadline extended past Tuesday night, but the talks were almost immediately beset by competing claims — just hours after diplomats abandoned a March 31 deadline to reach the outline of a deal. 

The negotiators' intention is to produce a joint statement outlining general political commitments to resolve concerns about the Iranians' nuclear program, in exchange for relief of economic sanctions against Iran. Negotiators are also trying to fashion other documents that would lay out in more detail the steps they must take by June 30 to meet those goals.

But Iran has pushed back, demanding a general statement with few specifics. That is politically unpalatable for the Obama administration, which must convince a hostile Congress that it has made progress in the talks so lawmakers do not enact new sanctions that could destroy the negotiations.

By blowing through self-imposed deadlines, Obama risks further antagonizing lawmakers in both parties who are poised to take their own action to upend a deal if they determine the president has been too conciliatory.

Republicans’ initial response to the extensions suggested they had already come to that conclusion.

"It is clear, the negotiations are not going well," said Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham in a statement. "At every step, the Iranians appear intent on retaining the capacity to achieve a nuclear weapon.”

Iran's Zarif insisted that the result of this round of talks "will not be more than a statement." But a senior Western official said Iran's negotiating partners would not accept a document that contained no details. The official was not authorized to speak about the negotiations by name, and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. and its negotiating partners are demanding curbs on Iranian nuclear activities that could be used to make weapons, and they say any agreement must extend the time Tehran would need to produce a weapon from the present several months to at least a year. The Iranians deny such military intentions, but they are negotiating with the aim that a deal will end sanctions on their economy.

Al Jazeera and wire services