Two days added to the Iran nuclear talks deadline

Iran and major powers gave themselves at least until Friday to negotiate an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program, but a source from one of the powers said on Tuesday they had to wrap up in the next 48 hours. The spokeswoman for the U.S. delegation, Marie Harf, said the terms of an interim deal between Iran and the six would be extended through Friday to give negotiators a few more days to finish their work. The negotiators had set Tuesday as a deadline when it became clear last week that a June 30 deadline would not be met. But despite a push in the past few days they made clear again that they still needed more time.

We’re frankly more concerned about the quality of the deal than we are about the clock, though we also know that difficult decisions won’t get any easier with time,

Spokeswoman for the U.S. delegation, Marie Harf.

There was disagreement about whether the talks were in effect open-ended. U.S. officials hoped to wrap them up in time for a 4 a.m. GMT Friday (midnight EDT Thursday) deadline to secure an expedited review by the U.S. Congress, but it was unclear if that was possible. Western diplomats said they had not yet given up hope of making the deadline for the U.S. congressional review. The source from one power, however, said there would be a time limit. The comprehensive deal under discussion is aimed at curbing Tehran’s most sensitive nuclear work for a decade or more, in exchange for relief from economic sanctions that have slashed Iran’s oil exports and crippled its economy.