国际英语新闻:Iran Talks Get Tougher as Deadline Looms

For the United States and its negotiating partners, that means verifiable guarantees that Iran’s nuclear program is purely peaceful. For Iran, the key goal is the easing and eventual end of international economic sanctions.

“The only path forward is one step at a time. And if they are able to get a mutually acceptable formula, the challenges that remain are much less significant than if they are not able to go back to their capitals with some kind of concrete achievement," Vaez said.

The key capitals are Tehran and Washington, but China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany are also part of the talks, and all the foreign ministers are expected in Switzerland for the final push.

Those countries were deputized by the U.N. Security Council to conduct these talks.

The talks are being closely followed by all the Middle Eastern governments, especially Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes the negotiations because he said they will not end Iran's ability to acquire nuclear weapons.

On Sunday he called the possible deal "very dangerous for humanity."

How to communicate

The senior U.S. official who spoke Sunday said the negotiators will have to communicate the main elements of any agreement in some way, but could not say how that might be done.

Iran’s foreign minister has expressed concern that publishing what would amount to a partial agreement would only provide ammunition to critics. There has been talk that the results of these talks might only be presented orally.
 
But Vaez and other analysts point out that without something written, the critics will pounce anyway. Still, the experts also note that the U.S. Congress is not in session until mid-April, which could give the negotiators some time to come up with the right format for putting any agreement on paper.