The six powers: United States, France, Britain, Russia, China, and Germany, known as the P5+1, are set to resume talks with Iran over its nuclear program Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. This will be the third meeting involving chief negotiators since February.

During a State Department background briefing on Friday, a senior U.S. official was confident that all parties are still committed to seeking a comprehensive, peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear program within the 6 month time frame set forth by the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA). The official also noted that the drafting of the agreement is to begin next month.

According to a Reuters article, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif has also stated the same.

“We will finish all discussions and issues this time to pave the ground for starting to draft the final draft in Ordibehesht”, which is an Iranian month that begins in two weeks.

The official also made note that the situation in the Crimean Peninsula has not negatively impacted the talks and that the chief Russian negotiator, Sergei Ryabkov, has remained “constructive, professional, and very much focused.”

According to the background briefing, much of the work remaining remains technical in nature. However, as previously stated, “Nothing is agreed upon until everything is agreed upon”, and that certainly still seems to be the case.

All in all, according to a March 20th IAEA inspections report, Iran is still living up to its side of the accord, per the requirements set forth by the JPOA.

Nathan Daniels is a Research Assistant & Intern at the American Security Project covering Nuclear Security Issues. He is currently a senior at the University of Tennessee at Martin pursuing a B.A. in Political Science with a concentration in International Security Studies.

Follow Nathan on Twitter: @NathanLDaniels

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