Intro:
The US and five other world powers are preparing to enter a decisive round of negotiations with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme. Many experts say the two sides are within striking distance of an initial deal with Tehran, after months of diplomacy, before their self-imposed deadline of the 31st March. But US Secretary of State John Kerry could face a more difficult job defending the accord to skeptical lawmakers back home on Capitol Hill. Lorna Shaddick reports from Washington.
IN: John Kerry is...
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Script:
John Kerry is once again heading to Switzerland to huddle with his Iranian counterpart, this time in Lausanne, where there are hopes that this could be the decisive round of talks in the search for a deal over Tehran's nuclear programme.
Ellen Laipson is President of the Stimson Centre, a global security think tank in Washington. She says there's much that hangs in the balance:
SOT - Ellen Laipson, President and CEO, The Stimson Center
It appears that they're in the final push for what will still be just the framework of the tradeoffs that have to happen… number of centrifuges, duration of the interim agreement, relief from sanctions - how does that package get balanced so that all parties feel that they did the right thing?
Secretary Kerry himself made it clear, during recent talks in Paris with European foreign ministers, that it's now up to Iran to decide whether it's willing to make concessions:
SOT - John Kerry, US Secretary of State
We're all mindful that the days are ticking by, but we're not feeling a sense of urgency that we have to get any deal. We have to get the right deal. // The reason we don't have an agreement is we believe there are gaps that have to be closed, there are things that have to be done to further strengthen this; we know this.
Those gaps include when any relief from sanctions would kick in, and how big a nuclear production capacity Iran would be left with. There's also the so-called 'sunset' problem of how long any agreement would last.
Here's Ellen Laipson again:
SOT - Ellen Laipson, President and CEO, The Stimson Center
The officials are suggesting that this March deadline is where the basic concepts get locked in, and then you have lots of lawyers working out the fine details of the text that would be signed mid-year. So now is the time for all the parties to decide what the politics at home will bear.
UPSOT Netanyahu announcement: Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister of Israel (applause)…
And this is what the politics at home in the US has sounded like recently - a speech in Congress warning against a deal from the Israeli Prime Minister, at the invitation of Republican lawmakers…
Then there was a protocol-breaking letter from nearly four dozen Republican Senators to Iranian leaders, suggesting that a future president could simply reverse any deal after Mr. Obama leaves office.
Speaking to Vice News, the President rubbished that move:
SOT - Barack Obama, US President (drumbeat underneath put there by Vice News)
I'm embarrassed for them. For them to address a letter to the Ayatollah, who they claim is our mortal enemy, and their basic argument to them is don't deal with our president, because you can't trust him to follow through with an agreement, it's close to unprecedented.
But the episode raises thorny questions about the role of Congress and whether it would need to ratify any eventual agreement…
But if a deal does succeed, it would be a lasting legacy for a President and a Secretary of State whose sights are now set very much on their write up in the history books.
Lorna Shaddick, Washington/SOC.
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