Deadline looms in Iran nuclear talks

Chief diplomats pushed on with a series of meetings in Vienna on Monday, as the self-imposed deadline to reach an agreement on Iran's disputed nuclear program drew closer.

The group of six countries - the US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany (known as the P5+1) - has been locked in discussions with Iran for months, and had sought to turn an interim deal set to expire midnight (2300 UTC) into a long-term accord.

But an anonymous diplomatic source quoted by news agencies said the parties were expected to adjourn Monday's negotiations and reconvene next month, possibly in Vienna or Oman. A new deadline for reaching a comprehensive agreement is expected to be set for July 1.

"Given progress made this weekend, talks headed to likely extension with experts and negotiating teams reconvening in December at a yet to be determined location," the diplomat told AFP in Vienna.

The West fears Iran could produce a nuclear weapon, and wants the state to curb its uranium enrichment program in return for lifting economically-crippling sanctions. A European official told Reuters securing a final deal along those lines before the deadline now seemed "physically impossible."

The possibility of extending Monday's target was reportedly broached on Sunday evening, when US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met separately with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

However Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who joined his counterparts in the Austrian capital on Monday, said negotiators were still having "consultations" on a final agreement.

"The first option would be foreign ministers entering some agreement. The second option is that due to technical difficulties, we may need more time," Wang told reporters.

'Deep divide' remains

Kerry and Zarif met again on Monday ahead of a meeting of all foreign ministers. Russian President Vladimir Putin was also expected to call Iranian President Hassan Rouhani later in the day, according to the Russian Tass news agency.

There are still several stumbling blocks to striking a deal. German Foreign Minister Frank Walter-Steinmeier spoke of a deep divide between Iran and the six powers at the meeting, saying they were "still far apart on many issues."

The main sticking points appear to be how quickly the West would lift sanctions against Iran, and Tehran's plans to ramp up its number of uranium enrichment centrifuges, which it says it needs to make fuel for a fleet of power reactors.

The West is calling for the centrifuges to be dramatically reduced and for there to be strict UN inspections of Iran's nuclear stocks. Tehran says it is only interested in using uranium for peaceful purposes, not for developing weapons.

nm/se (AP, Reuters, dpa)