US, Iran work for nuclear pact as deadline approaches
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The United States and Iran are plunging back into negotiations in an effort to end a decades-long standoff that has raised the specter of an Iranian nuclear arsenal, a new atomic arms race in the Middle East and even a US or Israeli military intervention.
Two weeks away from a deadline for a framework accord, some officials said the awesomeness of the diplomatic task meant negotiators would likely settle for an announcement that they've made enough progress to justify further talks.
Such a declaration would hardly satisfy American critics of the Obama administration's diplomatic outreach to Iran and hardliners in the Islamic Republic, who have become more vocal as the parties have narrowed many of their differences. And, officially, the United States and its partners insist their eyes are on a much bigger prize: "A deal that would protect the world from the threat that a nuclear-armed Iran could pose," Secretary of State John Kerry emphasized this past weekend.
