MOSCOW, November 21 (Sputnik) – There is no chance a comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear program will be reached by the November 24 deadline, experts concluded on Friday.
"Progress toward comprehensive solution has been agonizingly slow. In just three days remaining we can safely conclude it's impossible to reach comprehensive agreement by November 24. In best case they can agree on certain parameters," Robert Einhorn, senior fellow with the Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative at the Brookings Institution, said during the Nuclear Energy, Disarmament, and Nonproliferation conference in Moscow.
According to Einhorn, a number of issues still remain that can hamper the process.
"There is a number of critical issues remaining. The central one is the size of the Iranian enrichment capacity that Iran will be allowed to retain. The United States and partners want to achieve significant reduction. So far Iranian negotiators have been resisting any significant reduction," Einhorn added.
Li Guofu, a senior research fellow and director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, also agreed that at this stage "it's unrealistic to predict that a comprehensive deal will be reached."
Li though hopes that "both sides will try to use this historic opportunity to struck a deal."
The final round of Tehran's talks with the P5+1 group, comprising Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China and Germany, began in Vienna on Tuesday.
Tehran claims its nuclear development is aimed purely at civilian needs, such as meeting the country's growing energy needs. However, the West suspects Iran of developing a nuclear weapon under the guise of a peaceful program.
In 2013, the international negotiators agreed to reach a long-term deal with Tehran that would guarantee a peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program by July 2014, however the deadline was later postponed to November 24.
