Kerry scrambles to save Iran nuke deal

With a deadline for an Iranian nuclear deal fast approaching, US Secretary of State John Kerry embarked on a frenzy of high-stakes diplomacy on Wednesday in a last-minute push to secure an agreement - or at least prevent the process from collapsing.

As senior negotiators huddled for a second day in Vienna, Kerry held separate meetings in London. He arrived in Paris early on Thursday to meet with the US negotiating team in Vienna. Kerry was still weighing when he might join the larger effort in the Austrian capital, where negotiators are racing against the clock to forge a pact over the next five days.

Despite his efforts, though, signs increasingly pointed to Monday's deadline passing without a deal and the negotiations being extended a second time.

Oman's role

In London, Kerry met with Oman's Foreign Minister, Yusuf bin Alawi, a key bridge between Washington and Teheran, a senior US official said. Bin Alawi was in Teheran last weekend and met with Kerry on Tuesday.

Oman is not party to the negotiations among Iran, China, the US, Britain, France, Russia, the European Union and Germany.

But it is unique among the Gulf Arab states for the close ties it maintains with Iran, having hosted high-level nuclear talks earlier this month and serving as the site of secret US-Iranian gatherings dating back to 2012. Those earlier discussions laid the groundwork for an interim nuclear agreement reached a year ago, which the so-called P5+1 countries now hope to cement with a comprehensive accord in Vienna.

In Washington, US President Barack Obama's nominee to be Kerry's deputy at the State Department said he believes it will be difficult to meet the deadline.

"It's not impossible," said Tony Blinken, Obama's deputy national security adviser.

"It depends entirely on whether Iran is willing to take steps it must take to convince us, to convince our partners that its program will be for entirely peaceful purposes. As we speak, we're not there."

AP - AFP - Reuters

(China Daily 11/21/2014 page11)