The New York Times described nuclear negotiations with Iran as "sputtering" in their recent story on an upcoming meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials in Geneva.
"With Nuclear Talks Sputtering," the headline reads, "U.S. and Iran Plan Meeting."
Senior U.S. officials will meet with Iranian delegates in Geneva on Monday and Tuesday, with hopes of coaxing Iran into productive formal nuclear negotiations.
Two of the U.S. officials who will attend were involved in last year’s negotiations, which resulted in a temporary deal to freeze some of Iran’s nuclear operations. That deal is set to expire next month, and recent talks in Vienna ended at an impasse.
According to the Times:
There are mounting signs that diplomacy with Iran over its nuclear program is running into trouble. The point of the interim accord negotiated last year, one of the Obama administration’s most important diplomatic achievements during its second term, was to buy time so that a more comprehensive agreement to rein in Iran’s nuclear program might be reached.