Final push in 'historic' Iran nuclear talks

Iran nuclear talks entered Thursday the decisive, dangerous endgame with a final round of hardball negotiations potentially going all the way to a July 20 finish line.
      
The deal being sought by Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany would finally ease fears of Tehran getting nuclear weapons and silence talk of war, in exchange for ending punishing sanctions on the Islamic republic.
      
With Sunni Islamic insurgents overrunning large parts of Iraq and Syria in chaos after years of civil war, this could help Tehran and the West normalise relations at an explosive time in the Middle East.
      
"In this troubled world, the chance does not often arise to reach an agreement peacefully that will meet the essential and publicly expressed needs of all sides, make the world safer, ease regional tensions and enable greater prosperity," US Secretary of State John Kerry said this week.
      
In a Washington Post tribune, he warned Iran not to "squander a historic opportunity to end Iran's economic and diplomatic isolation and improve the lives of their people".
      
The P5+1 powers have proposed a "series of reasonable, verifiable and easily achievable measures that would ensure Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon and that its program is limited to peaceful purpose," he said.
      
"What will Iran choose? Despite many months of discussion, we don't know yet."       

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a video message, called the talks a "unique opportunity to make history", saying success would allow both sides to address "common challenges" such as Iraq.
                      
But with major...