Deal with US not imminent, Iran says

Excerpts from article by the BBC's Paulin Kola:

Iran says some progress has been reached in talks with the US, but a deal "is not imminent". 

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqai's remarks came after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said an agreement could possibly be reached on Monday. 

"It is correct to say that we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the issues under discussion," Baqai said in Tehran on Monday. "But to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent – no-one can make such a claim."

[…] Even in a best case scenario, the effects of a deal are unlikely to be seen right away.

It could be months before the shipping industry will be able to go back to supply chains that are "physically in the same shape as they were before the crisis", Lars Jensen, chief executive of Vespucci Maritime and former director of shipping company Maersk, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Should a deal between Iran and the US be announced in the coming days, the industry would still remain "cautious and hesitant" to make any "major operational changes", Jensen explained.