Washington: Expert talks to resolve the toughest issues blocking a full Iran nuclear deal could begin next week as the countdown begins to a June 30 deadline, a US official said Monday.
As Secretary of State John Kerry headed late Monday to give a closed-door briefing on the framework of an Iran deal to all 435 members of the House of Representatives, his lead negotiator Under Secretary Wendy Sherman was leaving for Germany and a meeting of G7 countries.
Kerry will join the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Lubeck on Wednesday, but on the sidelines Sherman will discuss with European political directors the next steps in the Iran negotiations following an April 2 breakthrough accord.
The framework hammered out in Lausanne after months of tough negotiations sets out the parameters for a final deal due by June 30 on scaling back Iran`s nuclear program.
But some of the toughest issues, including the lifting of global sanctions and a mechanism to put them back into place if Iran falters on the deal, as well as research and development and the possible military dimensions of the Iranian program have been left to last.
"We expect that possibly as early as next week, the experts would reconvene and start working. We don`t have anything nailed down yet, though," said State Department acting spokeswoman Marie Harf.
Kerry was planning to discuss the outlines of the deal he reached in Lausanne with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif with all members of Congress, with a session with Senate due to be held Tuesday.
"This is a consultative process," Harf told reporters.
Kerry has come under fire for pushing the deal, with many US lawmakers still wary of Iran, a long time US foe, who has had no diplomatic relations with Washington for some 35 years.
He was to be accompanied to Capitol Hill by Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz -- the latter helped hammer out some of the trickiest issues on reducing Iran`s nuclear weapon capability.
"The purpose of doing this in a classified session is so he can be as forthcoming as possible," Harf said, adding Kerry would "be boring down on the details of what we have, what we still have left to do."
She stressed however that while Congress may have an oversight role, the negotiations had to be left to the team inside the negotiating room.
