South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin writes for the Voice of America on why successfully concluding a nuclear deal with Iran is so difficult:
Successful diplomacy requires an astute mix of psychology and substance.
The past few days of Iran nuclear negotiations have featured plenty of both, with long sessions devoted to arcane technical issues interrupted by raised voices and threats to walk away rather than accept an agreement that does not meet respective bottom lines.
On Thursday, as negotiators neared a deadline for Congressional notification, a weary-looking Secretary of State John Kerry told equally weary reporters in Vienna that a deal was closer but not yet there.