Iran and world powers begin a new round of nuclear talks Tuesday hoping to make enough progress to move up a gear and start drafting a historic final deal next month.
This will however require Iran and the five UN Security Council permanent members plus Germany to delve ever deeper into issues that will severely test their willingness to give ground.
Both sides want to transform an interim deal struck in November by foreign ministers in Geneva into a permanent agreement by the time this temporary accord lapses on July 20.
So far the mood music has been good, with the powers' chief negotiator, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, hailing the last monthly round in mid- March as “substantive and useful”.
“There are signs that an understanding is possible that respects the rights of the Iranian nation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Iranian media afterwards.
A senior US official involved in the talks said Friday she was “absolutely convinced” a deal could be reached and that both sides were “looking toward beginning drafting (a deal) in May”.
But "the real issue is not about whether you can write the words on paper, do the drafting. It's about the choices that Iran has to make, and some of them are very difficult."
Under the November deal, which took effect on January 20, Iran froze certain nuclear activities for six months in exchange for minor relief from sanctions hurting its economy.
Now the powers want Iran to reduce permanently, or at least long-term, the scope of its programme in order to make any dash to make the bomb extremely difficult and easily detectable.
