Talks between Iran and the P5+1 powers are likely to extend beyond President Barack Obama’s self-imposed deadline of midnight Tuesday night, the Associated Press reported.
Quoting anonymous sources, AP said that marathon talks have produced “mixed results” but that both sides will issue a general statement to continue negotiations, exactly what President Obama said would not happen.
If nothing else, Iran can win a point against the president in its Games People Play book.
The establishment media are going nuts over the “deadline” as if the world will end if it passes without an agreement, but everyone seems to forget the current “deadline” was set by Obama after the previous “deadline’ in November did not produce an agreement.
Furthermore, the “agreement” simply is a framework” for a final agreement in June, when we will go through this spectacle again.
One indication that something might be in the works is the return of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who left the talks yesterday. Now he says, “The chances of a breakthrough in the talks are high, but success is not guaranteed.”
Associated Press reported that a joint statement to extend the deadline will be accompanied by written reports showing there is enough progress to justify continuing negotiations.
State Dept. spokeswoman Marie Harf hinted to reporters on Monday that the world will not come to an end if no agreement is reach by midnight and that the deadline could be extended.
She stated:
We’ve said that March 31st is a deadline; it has to mean something and the decisions don’t get easier after March 31st…. We’ll make decisions then. I really don’t want to guess about – I mean, honestly, so much can change in the next 36 hours…
But I would remind people that the JPOA (Joint Plan of Action), the conditions of it were extended – at the last extension time until the end of June. So on April 1st it’s not like something happens, right, because it’s already been extended until the end of June in terms of the JPOA and it’s still being enforced.
The Obama will try to throw a spin on an extension of talks as a sign that progress is being made, but it cannot mask the fact that doing so would expose another empty threat by President Obama.