DHAKA: France said on Saturday there was no certainty nuclear talks under way with Iran in Geneva would succeed because of major stumbling blocks over an initial proposed text on a deal.

‘As I speak to you, I can not say there is any certainty that we can conclude’ the talks, French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said on France Inter radio, reports The Jerusalem Post.

Meanwhile, Western diplomats say they are disappointed at the progress of nuclear negotiations in Geneva, and expect discussions to continue at least until next week, Los Angeles Time reported on Friday.

Unnamed diplomats from Washington did not tell the Times why the talks had come to a halt, but the paper speculated that the disagreement could be over Iran’s construction of a plutonium reactor, a direct path to a nuclear bomb.

Part of the proposed agreement between Iran and the international community is that they would agree not to activate the reactor while an interim deal is in place.

Iranian deputy foreign minister and Chief Negotiator Abbas Araghchi was also sceptical about the success of the current talks, saying ‘negotiations have reached (a) critical, very sensitive situation, and it needs decisions at higher levels’.

BDST: 1433 HRS, NOV 09, 2013
RoR/BSK