Western and Iranian negotiators have agreed to another extension of talks over Iran’s nuclear program. As has been typical of these negotiations and most talks with Iran, very different stories are being offered on each side, but talks that began secretly back in 2012 or 2013 now look likely to continue well into 2015.

The AP reports, based on Western officials, that the negotiations could be extended through July — this would mean the six-month interim deal from last November will last for more than a year and a half — while Iranian outlets are reporting that the extension may only need to last through December, or even sooner.

The main sticking point remains the amount of uranium-enrichment capability that Iran gets to hold onto: Western negotiators, led by the Obama administration, are okay with them having some capacity, but Iran wants a lot of it.

In the meantime, the AP reports:

The [extension] decision appears to benefit Iran. Its nuclear program is left frozen but intact, without any of the cuts sought by the U.S. And while negotiations continue, so will dole-outs of monthly $700 million in frozen funds that began under the temporary nuclear deal agreed on late last year that led to the present talks. . . .
Even the new deadline for a final deal was not immediately clear, with negotiators saying it was July 1, and [British foreign minister] Hammond fixing it at June 30.
But the length of the extension suggested that both sides felt plenty of time was needed to overcome the disputes on how much Iran needed to restrict nuclear activities that could be used to make weapons in exchange for relief from sanctions imposed over its nuclear program.

Some in Congress are planning to push for new sanctions on Iran if it’s shown to be in violation of the interim agreement, but the Obama administration and Iran maintain that this would blow up the chance of a deal entirely. (They maintain that despite the fact that the U.S. repeatedly tightened sanctions throughout the negotiations that led to the interim deal.)

The emphasis on enrichment capacity — already unfavorable ground, since the U.S. has basically conceded tthat Iran will get to enrich — may suggest that the West has already given in on other points of contention, such as the rate of sanctions relief, levels of uranium Iran gets to keep, and standards for inspections. If so, it’s hard to see how these talks are going to produce a satisfactory deal for the West — but you probably already knew that.

UPDATE: The Iranian president is happy: