Negotiations between Iran and P5+1 group on a final nuclear agreement will continue past Tuesday's deadline for the next couple of days, a top EU diplomat said.
"We are continuing to negotiate for the next couple of days," the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said, according to Reuters. Negotiators from P5+1 group - the US, UK, France, China and Russia plus Germany - have been holding marathon talks with Iranian diplomats in a bid to reach comprehensive nuclear agreement before midnight on July 7.
The Italian diplomat, however, said the continuation for the next couple of days of the nuclear talks did not mean extension of deadline. "This does not mean we are extending our deadline. I told you one week ago more or less, we are interpreting in a flexible way our deadline, which means that we are taking the time, the days we still need, to finalise the agreement," she said, according to AFP.
US and Iranian officials also confirmed the talks have been extended for more days. "We're frankly more concerned about the quality of the deal than we are about the clock, though we also know that difficult decisions won't get any easier with time - that is why we are continuing to negotiate," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, reported the Guardian.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had wanted a final deal by Wednesday at the latest, according to BBC. Iranian media said that the talks have been extended for three more days.
The three day extension (until July 10) came by the EU since no side could come to an agreement, reported Iran's Mehr news agency.
An Iranian diplomat said that the two sides agreed on 70 percent of the technical appendix and 90 percent of other appendixes but serious problems still need to be settled, according to Iran's ISNA news agency.
