A decade-old dispute over Iran’s nuclear program could be inching towards, at least, a temporary solution. With world powers set to convene a two-day summit in Geneva on Thursday, all sides are looking to maintain recent diplomatic momentum. The U.S. and its allies are encouraged by Tehran’s friendlier posture that’s accompanied Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s election earlier this year, according to Reuters.
Heading into the negotiations, the Obama administration is prepared to offer “limited relief from economic sanctions if Tehran agreed to halt its nuclear program and reversed part of it,” the New York Times reports. The details of such an agreement have already been discussed, the Times reports, and the terms could be agreed on by as early as next week. Iranian officials have also signaled a short-term agreement is within reach. “I believe it is even possible to reach that agreement this week,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told France 24.
According to the New York Times, the potential deal would “likely include constraints on the level of Iran’s uranium enrichment, the country’s stockpiles of nuclear material and the abilities of its nuclear facilities” and “involve verification measures.” In return for concessions, Reuters reports, “Iran wants the powers to lift painful economic sanctions that have slashed its daily oil sales revenues by 60 percent in the last two years and devalued its rial currency by more than half.”
