News Digest

With two weeks to deadline, high-level talks under way on Iran nuclear programme

The United States and Iran held high-level talks in Oman Sunday as the deadline for a nuclear deal loomed closer, but President Barack Obama warned there may be no agreement. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the Gulf sultanate, seeking to resolve key disputes that have left the West’s negotiations with the Islamic republic close to deadlock. An interim accord expires on Nov. 24 but Iran and world powers have for months been unable to hammer out what a comprehensive, long-term accord would look like.

We need to reach a solution based on mutual respect and cooperation. If the West is interested in reaching such a solution, there is possibility to find a solution and to reach an understanding before November 24.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

Iran denies any secret nuclear weapons agenda, saying it wants peaceful nuclear energy only, but has refused to curb enrichment capacity and has been hit by damaging U.S., EU and UN Security Council sanctions as a result. The thorniest unresolved issues are the size of Iran’s enrichment programme, the length of any long-term agreement and the pace at which international sanctions would be phased out, according to Western diplomats involved in the negotiations.