WASHINGTON — Amid signs that a decision to provide Iran with billions of dollars in nuclear sanctions relief is imminent, Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Saturday with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and a top European Union official, the State Department said Friday.
Kerry, Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will gather in Vienna, the home of the U.N. atomic watchdog, to discuss the “steady progress” that has been made toward implementing last July’s landmark agreement in which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions that have crippled its economy.
Diplomats said earlier this week that the International Atomic Energy Agency is just days away from certifying that Iran has met its obligations and an announcement could come this weekend. Officials said Friday that Saturday is the target date for the announcement. In another signal that implementation of the deal is imminent, President Barack Obama issued an executive order Friday that delegates to Kerry authority to sign off on the expected IAEA verification.
Such a finding would result in the termination of banking, other financial and energy penalties against Iran as well as free up assets that had been frozen because it had refused to prove that its atomic program is peaceful.
The White House said earlier Friday that sanctions relief would not come until the IAEA had verified Iran had met the terms of the agreement and that it was not yet ready to do so.
House spokesman Josh Earnest said Iran was making important progress toward curbing its nuclear program and that it was possible the Islamic Republic had already completed the necessary steps. But he refused to offer a timeline for sanctions relief, saying the IAEA must first confirm compliance. The United States, he said, wants to make sure Iran doesn’t “cut any corners.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
