Iran delegation heads home after Rouhani’s mother dies

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The Iranian delegation to the nuclear negotiations with the P5+1 world powers was headed back to Tehran Friday, cutting short ongoing talks, after the sudden death of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s 90-year-old mother.

“We are leaving today but will resume the talks next week,” an Iranian official told Reuters.

The State Department confirmed Friday that talks would resume on Wednesday, with US Secretary of State John Kerry due to discuss progress with European counterparts Saturday somewhere in Europe.

“Secretary Kerry will travel tomorrow to meet in Europe his French, German and British counterparts on Saturday, and the negotiations will resume next week, spokesperson Marie Harf said from Switzerland.

Earlier Friday, Iran and the six world powers were meeting to attempt to iron out their remaining differences over Iran’s nuclear program.

US President Barack Obama appealed to Tehran Friday to seize a “historic” opportunity and begin a “brighter future”.

In a Nowruz (Persian New Year) video address, Obama said that a “reasonable nuclear deal… can help open the door to a brighter future for you, the Iranian people.”

“I believe that our nations have a historic opportunity to resolve this issue peacefully — an opportunity we should not miss,” added Obama.

In an apparent response, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said it was the other side that had to make a decision.

“Iranians have already made their choice: engage with dignity. It’s high time for the US and its allies to chose: pressure or agreement,” Zarif wrote in a message posted on his official Twitter account.

Iran and the six world powers — the US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany — were seeking to agree on the outlines of a deal by March 31 after more than a year of negotiations.

The mooted agreement, due to be finalized by July, is aimed at convincing the world after a standoff now in its 13th year that Iran won’t build nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian program.

The highly complex deal would likely involve Iran reducing in scope its nuclear activities, allowing ultra-tight inspections, exporting nuclear material and limiting development of new nuclear machinery.

In exchange, Iran, which denies wanting nuclear weapons, would be granted staggered relief from the mountain of painful sanctions that have strangled its oil exports and hammered its economy.

Negotiators missed two deadlines last July and November for a deal but the pressures in Washington — where Republicans are teeing up new sanctions legislation — all but rule out a new extension, experts say.

Both Kerry and Zarif on Thursday spoke of “progress” in the talks, but both sides have said that there remain considerable gaps still to bridge.

In earlier indications of a building deal, officials told the AP Thursday that the United States and Iran were drafting elements of a deal that commits Tehran to a 40-percent cut in the number of machines it could use to make an atomic bomb. In return, the Iranians would get quick relief from some crippling economic sanctions and a partial lift of a UN embargo on conventional arms.

Agreement on those details of Iran’s uranium-enrichment program could signal a breakthrough for a larger deal aimed at containing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear activities.