VIENNA — Foreign ministers from Iran and world powers interrupted talks on a nuclear deal Sunday.
Federica Mogherini of the European Union said foreign ministers, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, will resume negotiations only when unspecified disagreements have been resolved in lower-level talks.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he would resume negotiations on Wednesday, the day after the deadline that Iran and the group of the six world powers set themselves for reaching the agreement, Iranian media reported.
Zarif spoke after two days of talks aimed at bridging several remaining differences on the agreement that would curb Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.
“The ministers would come back here in the coming days, as soon as the work on the text has moved forward,” and would finalize the deal, said Mogherini, who chairs the group of Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany in the talks with Iran.
“I would say that the political will is there. I’ve seen it from all sides,” she said.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned of an arms race in the Middle East should Iran not make a deal.
“If there is no agreement, everyone loses,” he said in an interview with German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
Iran’s international isolation and its ambition to obtain nuclear weapons would increase, Steinmeier said.
“This could result in a new arms race in a region that is already shaken by crises,” he said.
Israel and Arab countries worry that their regional rival could use its civilian nuclear program to develop a nuclear arsenal. Tehran denies having such aims.
