VIENNA, Nov 20 (AFP): A final round of talks on Iran's nuclear programme before a looming deadline hung in the balance Thursday as Britain expressed pessimism a deal could be done in time and foreign ministers stayed away.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond indicated that the most to be hoped for was enough progress to justify putting yet more time on the clock beyond Monday's cut-off point.
"I am not optimistic that we can get everything done by Monday," Hammond said in Latvia on Wednesday.
"But I think if we make some significant movement, we may be able to find a way of extending the deadline to allow us to get to the final deal, if we are making good progress in the right direction."
A US State Department spokesman however insisted that negotiators were "still focused" on getting a deal done in time -- something that many experts doubt, particularly as an earlier July 20 deadline was missed.
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany have been negotiating since February to turn an interim accord with Iran reached a year ago into a lasting agreement before November 24.
Such a deal, after 12 years of rising tensions, is aimed at easing fears that Tehran will develop nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian activities -- an ambition it denies.
- Bogged down -
Some areas appear provisionally settled, such as the future of the Arak nuclear reactor and tighter UN inspections to better detect any attempt to build a bomb.
But two key issues remain: uranium enrichment -- rendering uranium suitable for peaceful uses but also, at high purities, for a weapon -- and the pace at which sanctions on Iran would be lifted under a deal.
Iran wants to massively ramp up the number of enrichment centrifuges -- in order, it says, to make fuel for a fleet of future reactors -- while the West wants them dramatically reduced, reportedly by half.
Iran nuclear talks hang in the balance
FE Team | Published: November 21, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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