Local Editor

Iran and UN nuclear monitors took a "major step" toward resolving remaining issues regarding the Islamic republic's disputed atomic program, an Iranian spokesman said Tuesday.

The 24-hour visit to Iran by experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] on Monday followed a similar trip last week by its chief executive Yukiya Amano, but no clear outcome was reached.

Quoted by the official IRNA news agency, the spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Behrouz Kamalvandi, said progress was made but he gave no details on the latest discussions.

"Iran and the IAEA took a major step in resolving the outstanding issues to reaching a fundamental understanding on the topics and the timing of cooperation," he said.

Kamalvandi described Monday's meetings as "constructive and forward-looking" and said the second IAEA visit "shows the serious determination of both sides to enhance cooperation."

However, the statement came as the latest deadline for a final nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 powers [Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany] seemed likely to be missed at talks in Vienna.

Earlier on Monday, the foreign ministers of the United Nations Security Council's five permanent members and Germany took part in a coordination meeting on Iran's nuclear case in Vienna.

The meeting was held behind closed doors without representatives from Tehran.

The Iranian foreign minister Mohamad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry have reportedly held 15 rounds of meetings over the last 10 days in Vienna.

Zarif held separate one-on-one meetings with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and Mogherini on Monday.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Monday that the extended July 7 deadline for a final deal between Iran and the global powers could further "slip".

"I would say that it's certainly possible," he said after the two sides missed a June-end deadline pushing the Vienna negotiations into the first week of July.

However, he did not "set any expectations at this point", saying, "This [July 7] is the deadline that we continue to operate against, and that reflects the rather aggressive pace of the negotiations that are underway right now."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team