Nuclear talks wind down in confusion

Wednesday morning, as the nuclear talks between the six powers and Iran overran their March 31 deadline into April, there was no consensus on how – oir even when – to ring the curtain down. The French foreign minister Lauren Fabius threw up his hands and left, followed by his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The Russian and Iranian foreign ministers Sergei Lavrov and Mohammed Javad Zarif reported progress although differences remained. Zarif announced that, after the delegations got some sleep, they would get down to drafting. He didn’t say what the draft would be. In Washington, the State Department said “several difficult issues” remained.  Kerry is expected to face reporters in Lausanne later Wednesday with some answers.

The ministers are working on a text – written or oral – that will enable the nuclear talks to lurch on for a comprehensive accord by June 30.
In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu again blasted the proposed deal, saying that whatever came out of the Lausanne talks, Iran would be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon quickly. "In our estimate, it will be reduced to perhaps a year, most likely much less than that."