Two days after a deadline passed for a deal to ease sanctions on Iran in exchange for concessions over its nuclear program, it seems that a framework for a long-term deal has been reached.
Iranian Prime Minister Hassan Rouhani tweeted that Iran and six world powers, including the United States, had reached an agreement on "key parameters" of the issue.
Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said that the group was "ready to start drafting [the deal] immediately."
Secretary of State John Kerry followed with a tweet of his own saying: "Big day: #EU, P5+1, and #Iran now have parameters to resolve major issues on nuclear program. Back to work soon on a final deal."
The new plan comes after Kerry and Zarif engaged in talks that continued until nearly 6 a.m. local time in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Wednesday. Discussions resumed later today.
A central question in the talks has been how Iran might emerge from sanctions imposed by the U.S., the European Union and the United Nations — entities with their own political and economic concerns at stake.
Debate also has focused on how Iran's nuclear stockpile should be stored, with the U.S. urging the country to send its enriched uranium outside its borders.
On Wednesday, it seemed negotiators were close to announcing a deal, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying that a general agreement on "all key aspects" had been reached.
But the talks bogged down, and three ministers left the hotel that has served as the venue for the negotiations between Iran and ministers from the U.S., Russia, France, China, Britain and Germany.
"We have a very serious problem of confidence — mutual lack of confidence, which we need to address," Zarif told reporters earlier today. "And we hope that this process will remedy some of that."
A little after noon, eastern time, Zarif tweeted: "Found solutions."
We are still awaiting a press conference with Secretary of State John Kerry in Lausanne, Switzerland, where the latest rounds of negotiations have taken place.
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