Iran nuke talks end with no deal
The deadline for an Iran nuclear deal has been extended to the end of June after talks in Vienna failed to reach a comprehensive agreement, diplomats say.
UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said good progress had been made, but it was "not possible to get an agreement by the [original] deadline".
Six world powers want Iran to curb its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of UN sanctions. Tehran says it is not seeking nuclear weapons, but wants atomic energy, reports BBC.
The six countries - the US, UK, Russia, China, France and Germany - have been in negotiations with Iran to finalise a preliminary deal reached last year in Geneva.
Speaking after the Vienna talks had ended, Hammond said that negotiations would resume in December, and would be extended until 30 June 2015.
Iran would be allowed to continue accessing $700m (£450m) per month in frozen assets during that period.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he expected the "basic principles" of the nuclear deal to be agreed within three to four months.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif agreed Sunday to start discussion on the extension as it became clear that it would be hard to bridge the differences between them in the time before the deadline, reports AP.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said yesterday negotiators were still having "consultations" on a final agreement that meets both US demands for strict curbs on Tehran's nuclear program and Iran's push for sanctions relief, also suggesting that moves toward an immediate deal had not yet been abandoned.
International negotiators are worried that Iran is using its nuclear development program as a cover for developing nuclear weapons, and they have imposed economic sanctions on Tehran. Iran denies that, saying it is only interested in producing power.
Wang arrived yesterday, joining the foreign ministers of the other countries negotiating with Iran - the US, Russia, Britain, France and Germany, in a top-level diplomatic effort to push the talks forward.
A deal could begin a process in which the "relationship not just between Iran and us but the relationship between Iran and the world, and the region, begins to change," Obama said in an ABC News interview Sunday.
But a last-ditch diplomatic blitz in Vienna in recent days involving US Secretary of State John Kerry and other foreign ministers appeared to have failed to bridge the remaining major differences, reports AFP.
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