Israel Matzav

And we have another delay!

Before the Iran nuclear talks for a permanent agreement even start, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has decided that five months is not enough time to reach a permanent agreement, and is calling to extend the talks.

Comprehensive negotiations between world powers and Iran over its nuclear program officially begin in Vienna on February 18, at which point diplomats will have just over five months to reach an accord ending the longstanding impasse once and for all.

That cutoff was agreed upon, and is self-imposed, by the parties directly involved in the talks. Yet given the stakes of failure, Catherine Ashton, the European Union's chief diplomat, is already discussing an extension of that deadline.

"Everyone will say to you, and rightly so, this is extremely difficult," Ashton told The Wall Street Journal at a strategic conference in Munich on Sunday. "We have no guarantees in this and we will take the time that is necessary to get this to be the right agreement."

Speaking on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the negotiations, US officials have told The Jerusalem Post they too fear the talks will require more time than has been officially acknowledged.

Anyone want to bet that Iran has nuclear weapons before the talks reach a conclusion?

Whatever else happens, Iran is confident that there won't be any more sanctions regardless of how long the talks drag out. Here's Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif.

"With good will we can reach an agreement within six month," he said in a speech to the German Council on Foreign Relations. "I don't fear a decision in the US Congress ... The US president has promised to veto it."

And of course, the US President always keeps his promises... well, at least to Iran.

What could go wrong? 

Labels: Catherine Ashton, Iran sanctions regime, Iranian nuclear threat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, P 5+1

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:32 AM