The Iran nuclear talks have reportedly stalled

Negotiators from the U.S., Iran, and four other nations have until March 31 to reach an interim deal on Iran's nuclear program, and it doesn't look like they'll make it. "Contrary to what the Iranians are saying with regard to 90 percent of an accord being done, that's not correct," an unidentified European negotiator told Reuters and other news agencies. "We are not close to an agreement."

Iran says that there are a lot of sticking points left to be worked out, and talks will continue over the weekend, but the biggest is the question of phasing out United Nations sanctions, diplomats tell The Wall street Journal. The U.S. and Europe insist that U.N. sanctions be phased out over a couple of years, and the Iranians "say it's a deal-breaker," one European diplomat tells The Journal. Iran wants sanctions lifted immediately, and "there's no way that we would give up on that.... No way."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up