Marathon Iran nuclear talks drag on past self-imposed deadline

Lausanne: The US on Tuesday abandoned a midnight deadline to agree the outlines of a nuclear deal with Iran but insisted that "enough progress" merited extending marathon talks into tomorrow."We've made enough progress in the last days to merit staying until Wednesday. There are several difficult issues still remaining," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said.[caption id="attachment_2181837" align="alignleft" width="380" class=" "] Representational image. AFP[/caption]The announcement came late on a sixth day of talks in Switzerland aimed at laying the groundwork for a deal that world powers hope will prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian programme.The stakes are high, with fears that failure to reach a deal may set the United States and Israel on a road to military action to thwart Iran's nuclear drive, which Tehran says is purely peaceful.Earlier Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi left the crunch talks in Lausanne as his French counterpart Laurent Fabius said that the negotiations were "complicated... long and difficult".A German diplomatic source also said the talks were "difficult" with a "changeable atmosphere" and "frequent breaks to negotiate in smaller groups".A Western diplomat said the army of technical and sanctions experts would continue plugging away "for (the) next hours. All parties (are) working hard and (are) committed to finding a solution."Senior Iranian negotiator Hamid Baidinejad said: "The negotiations will end when solutions have been found... We are ready to continue. We are not watching the clock."The return earlier to Lausanne of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had brought a ray of optimism, having said in Moscow before leaving that the chances of an accord were "high".Under a deal to be finalised by June 30, the powers want Iran to scale back its nuclear programme to give the world ample notice of any dash to make the bomb by extending the so-called "breakout" time.In return, the Islamic republic is demanding the lifting of sanctions that have strangled its economy.But the question is how much detail will be in the framework accord that Iran and the six powers — the US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany -- want to leave Lausanne having secured.If it falls short of firm commitments by Iran then US President Barack Obama will find it hard to fend off attempts by his Republican opponents to pass fresh sanctions on Tehran.AFP