US, Iran Discussing New Ideas to Break Nuclear Impasse
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US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are discussing new ideas aimed at breaking the deadlock in nuclear talks between Tehran and six world powers, sources close to the talks said on Friday.
The sources said the top Iranian and US diplomats were preparing ideas that could be shown to both countries' capitals.
"Discussions are continuing," said a senior US official, who declined to discuss details about the negotiations in Vienna.
One source said it was too early to say whether this latest joint effort indicated an actual narrowing of the wide differences between Iran and the six powers.
The United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China began a final round of talks with Iran on Tuesday. Iran insists that its nuclear program is of peaceful nature.
Separately, sources close to the talks said Oman's Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi was in Vienna, though Western officials said he was not playing an active mediation role in relation to the latest ideas under discussion by Kerry and Zarif. Oman was a key intermediary when Tehran and Washington launched secret talks on a possible nuclear deal more than a year ago.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said earlier on Friday in Vienna: "These are complex issues and there are still significant gaps between the parties. We're all going away to have technical discussions with our experts and we'll resume again over the ... weekend."
A senior Western diplomat said he was not optimistic about prospects for a long-term agreement by Monday's deadline.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Kerry agreed that "additional efforts" were needed to reach a deal by the self-imposed deadline, Russia's Foreign Ministry said.
"The sides did not rule out the possibility of holding a ministerial meeting of the parties to the talks on Iran's nuclear programme, if the prospect for progress appears," the ministry said in a statement.
A senior Western diplomat declined to comment on the nature of the discussions between Zarif and Kerry, but said "we are still very far away" from an agreement.
Zarif canceled announced plans to return to Tehran for top-level discussions with the deadline looming, Iranian media reported. The reason was not immediately known.
"The talks have not reached a stage that necessitates Zarif to go to Tehran," an unidentified senior member of the Iranian delegation told the IRNA and ISNA news agencies.
US and French officials said earlier that Kerry and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius would return to Paris later in the day for consultations. But they later said both ministers would stay overnight in the Austrian capital.
A source close to the talks said that Zarif had received a document from the powers that outlined the main principles of a possible agreement.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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