Iran - 'Never ending' Nuclear Talks Extended for 4 Months.

Iran -  'Never ending' Nuclear Talks Extended for 4 Months. HT: Forward.

 World Yawns at 'Existential' Tehran Threat — Sanctions Stay

Iran and six powers agreed to continue talking for four more months after failing to meet a July 20 deadline to reach a deal on curbing the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for ending sanctions, enabling Tehran to access $2.8 billion of frozen cash.

But U.S. officials warned that most sanctions against the Islamic Republic would remain in place during the extended talks.

The announcement came in the early hours of Saturday after nearly three weeks of marathon talks in a 19th century Viennese palace, where senior officials from Iran, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China were holed up in negotiating rooms struggling to reach an agreement.

Iran will be allowed to access in tranches an additional $2.8 billion of its frozen assets during the period of extended talks, senior U.S. officials told reporters in Vienna.

“Iran will not get any more money during these four months than it did during the last six months, and the vast majority of its frozen oil revenues will remain inaccessible,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a statement released in Vienna on Saturday. “We will continue to vigorously enforce the sanctions that remain in place.”(Someone please inform NATO 'sometimes Ally' Turkey)

It remains uncertain whether four more months of high-stakes talks will yield a final deal, since major underlying differences remain after six rounds of meetings this year.

A senior U.S. official told reporters that Washington would make clear to countries around the world that “Iran is not open for business” during the four months of extended talks.

In exchange for the $2.8 billion, Kerry said, Iran agreed to take several steps, including to keep neutralizing its most sensitive uranium stocks - uranium that has been enriched to a level of 20 percent purity - by converting it to fuel for a research reactor in Tehran used to make medical isotopes.

Kerry said the future of Iran’s enrichment program was one of the most divisive topics.

“There are very real gaps on issues such as enrichment capacity at the Natanz enrichment facility,” he said. “This issue is an absolutely critical component of any potential comprehensive agreement. We have much more work to do in this area, and in others as well.”

Some members of U.S. Congress are eager to impose new and tougher sanctions on Iran. Several senior U.S. officials said on Saturday that they would continue to oppose new sanctions as long as the negotiations are underway but would drop their opposition if the talks were to collapse.

“We understand Congress’ desire to hold Iran’s feet to the fire,” one of the U.S. officials said. Hmmmm.....Iran must be close to 'Break out' by now......thanks Hussein.