The British Foreign Minister William Hague says that significant differences remain between negotiators from Iran and the P5+1 over Tehran’s energy program, but all possibilities should be exhausted to reach a final agreement.
“Significant differences remain ... which are yet to be bridged. But I am convinced that the current negotiations are the best opportunity we have had in years to resolve this issue,” William Hague said in an interview with the Austrian newspaper, Wiener Zeitung, via email on Wednesday. The interview was published on Thursday.
“Achieving an agreement is far from certain,” Hague said.
On July 3, Iran and the six countries formally kicked off their sixth round of nuclear talks this year to discuss a permanent accord on Tehran’s nuclear energy program.
The two sides have been discussing ways to iron out their differences and achieve a final deal that would end the decade-old dispute over Iran’s nuclear energy program.
According to Western diplomats, Iran’s uranium enrichment issue remains a bone of contention between Tehran and the six countries.
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said on Tuesday that Iran currently needs 190,000 Separative Work Units (SWU) to provide the fuel needed annually for the country's Bushehr nuclear power plant in the next eight years. The capacity of each centrifuge in enrichment is measured by SWU.
