US, Iran agree to framework for talks

The Obama administration and its negotiating partners have agreed with Iran on a framework for the next six months of nuclear talks, officials confirmed Thursday.

The talks will aim to constrain Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and prevent the country from being able to pursue a nuclear weapon without warning, although details remain scant.

International negotiators have agreed to meet again on March 17 — and once a month thereafter. An initial round of discussions took place this week in Vienna, after a six-month interim agreement officially went into effect on Jan. 20.

{mosads}“We had three very productive days during which we have identified all the issues we need to address to reach a comprehensive and final agreement,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said, according to The New York Times. “There is a lot to do. It won’t be easy, but we have made a good start.”

A U.S. official told the Times that “every issue of concern to us is on the table” in the talks — including uranium enrichment and Iran’s heavy-water reactor, which could be used to make plutonium, as well as the country’s ballistic missile program. Iran maintains that only its nuclear program is up for discussion, and it will not dismantle its nuclear infrastructure.

Diplomats on both sides have been keen to indicate they’re making progress toward a deal while keeping details of negotiations private amid strong domestic push-back. Iranian conservatives have attacked President Hassan Rouhani for caving to the west in exchange for sanctions relief, while many U.S. lawmakers remain convinced Iran is only bidding for time and have continued pushing for new sanctions to bleed the country dry.

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