Left: Deputy Secretary of State William Burns; Center: Wendy Sherman is chief U.S. nuclear negotiator; Right.: Jake Sullivan, top foreign policy adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, led bilateral talks with Iran in 2013 before an interim deal was reached. —Associated Press

The objective is to reopen and actively pursue bilateral negotiations with Iran in order to reach an agreement by July 20, 2014. It is hoped that this agreement would place constraints on Tehran’s ability to make nuclear weapons.

In November 2013 an Interim Deal with Iran was reached where uranium enrichment above 5% was stopped in return for an easing of Western economic sanctions. So far the stealth team has met with Iranian negotiators clandestinely in Oman, New York and Geneva. These meeting have been held without the knowledge of Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Both sides still admit that large gaps remain between their positions, with the main area of contention being the size and scope of Iran’s uranium-enrichment program, which will determine its ability to produce weapons-grade fuel.