Diplomats say Iran and six powers have extended nuclear talks until Nov. 24 after realizing that differences were too big to reach a deal by the Sunday, the informal deadline, according to Reuters.
The decision was expected, with much of Friday spent on debating not obstacles standing in the way of an agreement but how long the add-on talks should go on and other related details, Reuters reported.
Two diplomats who divulged the development demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about the confidential negotiations, according Reuters.
The biggest obstacle is uranium enrichment, which can make both reactor fuel and the core of a nuclear warhead, Reuters reported. Iran says it does not want such weapons but demands it be allowed to keep its present program.
Iran, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China had set a July 20 deadline to complete a long-term agreement that would resolve the decade-old dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, but diplomats said they were unable to overcome significant differences on major sticking points, according to Reuters.
"We have reached an agreement to extend the talks," a senior Iranian diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Several Western diplomats echoed his remarks.
The talks are taking place because of a preliminary agreement reached in Geneva in November 2013 that gave Iran limited sanctions relief in exchange for halting some nuclear activities and created time and space for the negotiation of a comprehensive deal to end the decade-long dispute, according to Reuters.
After years of rising tension between Iran and the West and fears of a new Middle East war, last year's election of a pragmatist, Hassan Rouhani, as Iran's president led to a thaw in ties that resulted in November's diplomatic breakthrough, Reuters reported.
The powers want Iran to significantly scale back its nuclear enrichment programme to make sure it cannot yield nuclear bombs,Reuters reported. Iran wants sanctions that have severely damaged its oil-dependent economy to be lifted as soon as possible.
