US: Time Appears to be Running Short for Iran to Accept Deal

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby. EPA
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby. EPA
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US: Time Appears to be Running Short for Iran to Accept Deal

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby. EPA
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby. EPA

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Thursday the negotiations on the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran "are pretty much complete at this point."

"There's a deal on the table. They ought to take it," he told reporters in Washington. "Time does appear to be getting very short in terms of being able to get to a deal."

Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington resumed in Vienna with a meeting between Iran's chief nuclear negotiator and the EU's Enrique Mora, who coordinates the talks aimed at salvaging the nuclear deal.

Little remains of the deal, which lifted sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program. But then-President Donald Trump ditched the deal in 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions.

"You’ve heard the president say we’re not going to wait forever for Iran to take this deal," Kirby said.

"I’m not going to slap a label on it and say ‘last ditch,’ but ... we urge Iran to take this deal on the table," he said.

The proposed deal would see Iran agree to stringent controls on its nuclear sector, which it insists has only civilian purposes but is suspected of harboring a secret military program.

In return, Iran would see a gradual lifting of crippling economic sanctions.



Qantas Plane Lands Safely in Sydney after Engine Failure

Workers check the runway, near where a grass fire occurred, as a Qantas plane prepares to take off behind at Sydney International Airport on November 8, 2024. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)
Workers check the runway, near where a grass fire occurred, as a Qantas plane prepares to take off behind at Sydney International Airport on November 8, 2024. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)
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Qantas Plane Lands Safely in Sydney after Engine Failure

Workers check the runway, near where a grass fire occurred, as a Qantas plane prepares to take off behind at Sydney International Airport on November 8, 2024. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)
Workers check the runway, near where a grass fire occurred, as a Qantas plane prepares to take off behind at Sydney International Airport on November 8, 2024. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)

A Qantas Airways plane bound for Brisbane suffered an engine failure after take-off on Friday and circled for a short period of time before returning safely to Sydney Airport, the Australian airline said.
Passengers heard a loud bang from one of the aircraft's two engines, Australian media reported.
A journalist with national broadcaster ABC was on the flight and said there was a "sharp shudder" on the plane after the loud noise, his news outlet reported.
"It was apparent something had happened with one of the engines, then the plane seemed to labor to get off the ground or get any altitude," ABC journalist Mark Willacy said.
Qantas did not disclose the number of passengers or crew aboard the narrow-body plane, which its website states offers 12 business and 162 economy seats.
The airline said its engineers had conducted a preliminary inspection of the engine and confirmed it was a contained engine failure, meaning the internal engine parts stayed within the protective housing designed to keep them safely enclosed.
Uncontained engine failures, where engine fragments fly out of this housing, can result in serious damage to the main body of an aircraft.
Qantas flight QF520 took off from Sydney at 12:35 p.m. (0135 GMT), circled a few times and diverted to land at Sydney, tracking data from Flightradar24 showed.
Qantas said the plane landed safely after appropriate procedures were conducted and added it would be investigating the cause of the engine issue.
The plane is a 19-year-old Boeing 737-800, according to Flightradar24.

The aircraft's departure coincided with a grass fire breaking out alongside Sydney Airport's parallel runway that was brought under control by teams from the aviation firefighting rescue service, the airport said in a statement.