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Compromise on anti-Iran sanctions outlines at Lausanne talks — sources

Sources say there could be an offer to Tehran to have most of the UN Security Council sanctions lifted after a comprehensive and legally binding agreement on Iran’s nuclear program is signed

LAUSANNE, March 30. /TASS/. A compromise on the issue of lifting UN Security Council sanctions against Iran has outlined at talks on Tehran’s nuclear program in Lausanne, Switzerland, sources told TASS Monday.

They said there could be an offer to Tehran to have most of the UN Security Council sanctions package against it lifted after a comprehensive and legally binding agreement on Iran’s nuclear program is signed. In line with the negotiating schedule, the document should be expected to be signed in June.

Instead, the United States insists on preparing a mechanism to automatically resume sanctions in case Iran violates its agreements within the framework of the future deal.

According to Western sources, the United States insists that the period of possible automatic resumption of sanctions should cover the entire period of validity of the future agreement on Iran — that is, 10 years.

Another problem is the issue of lifting unilateral restrictive measures against Iran on the part of the European Union and the United States, which are not discussed in the P5+1 format at all as they were adopted unilaterally and should be lifted by Brussels and Washington respectively.

At a meeting in Vienna in November 2014, the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and France — plus Germany) and Tehran agreed to extend the deadline for a deal in the talks on Iran’s nuclear program to June 30, 2015.

The agreement stipulated that by the end of March 2015, the sides planned to achieve a principled political decision regarding disputed issues.

Iran says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity, but Western powers led by the United States claim Tehran's eventual aim is to create nuclear weapons.