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Iran nuclear talks: Deal 'near completion' Iran nuclear talks: Zarif plays down nuclear deal hopes
(about 4 hours later)
There are growing expectations that a comprehensive deal capping marathon negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme will be announced in Vienna. Iran's foreign minister has said the negotiations with six world powers on a comprehensive agreement on its nuclear programme will not conclude on Monday.
Six world powers and Iran are reported to have drawn up a 100-page document detailing curbs to Iran's nuclear activity and sanctions relief. There had been reports that a breakthrough was imminent, but Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters in Vienna there would be no deal before Tuesday.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is to make a televised address at 17:30 GMT. Diplomats said they were struggling to resolve several points of contention.
The sides are trying to agree on a long-term deal which will resolve the 13-year-long crisis. They include Iranian demands that a UN arms embargo be lifted and the legality of its nuclear programme recognised.
The world powers suspect Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons - something it strongly denies. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said "genuine progress" had been made, but that "significant issues" remained. Iran's leaders had to make some "tough decisions", he added.
Unnamed diplomats at the talks told the Associated Press news agency that negotiators planned to announce on Monday that they had reached a final accord. The so-called P5+1 - the US, UK, France, China and Russia plus Germany - want Iran to scale back its sensitive nuclear activities to ensure that it cannot build a nuclear weapon.
The BBC's James Robbins in Vienna says the text of the document is long and the language apparently very precise, to minimise the risk either side can question later the commitments they have made. Iran, which wants crippling international sanctions lifted, has always insisted that its nuclear work is peaceful.
'Final phase' 'Tired and overworked'
Amid the guarded optimism there were still expressions of caution as the discussions resumed on Monday. The BBC's James Robbins in Vienna says the clocks are running exceedingly slow in the negotiations.
"No-one is thinking of another extension. Everyone working hard to get to yes today, but political will still required," tweeted Alireza Miryousefi, a member of the Iranian delegation. All the key ministers seem close to exhaustion, sending out conflicting signals on the timing of an agreement, our correspondent adds.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said there "shouldn't be any extension but we could work as long as necessary to finish this". Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested a deal on Monday night was still possible, but his Iranian counterpart disagreed.
Negotiations between the so-called P5+1 - the US, UK, France, Russia, China plus Germany - and Iran have been struggling over the issues of international inspections of Iran's non-nuclear sites, verification of Iranian compliance, and the pace of sanctions relief. Taking a break from the negotiations at the Palais Coburg hotel, Mr Zarif shouted to reporters that he was tired and overworked. Asked when a deal was likely, he said that Tuesday was possible but not Monday.
Officials from the two sides signalled on Sunday that they were close to a deal. Mr Zarif later wrote on Twitter: "If #IranDeal reached, triumph of diplomacy means we all will have won when we all could have lost. Plain and simple; no spin needed."
US Secretary of State John Kerry said "a few tough things'' needed to be resolved but added: "We're getting to some real decisions." China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi meanwhile stressed that no deal should be expected to be perfect.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who cancelled a trip to Africa to stay at the talks, said: "I hope we are finally entering the final phase of these marathon negotiations. I believe it."
Iran's President Rouhani said they had "come a long way".
"We need to reach a peak and we're very close," the Isna news agency quoted him as saying.
If a long-term agreement is reached, it still faces a tough ride through the US Congress, which could reject it and leave US sanctions against Iran in place.
Could US Congress torpedo a deal?Could US Congress torpedo a deal?
"The conditions are already in place for a good agreement. We believe there cannot and should not be a further delay in the negotiations," he said.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani had been scheduled to address the nation about the nuclear talks on television on Monday night, but the official Irna news agency subsequently reported that he would only speak when agreement had been reached.
The president's English-language Twitter account later deleted a post that appeared to have been written in anticipation of a breakthrough. "#IranDeal is the victory of diplomacy & mutual respect over the outdated paradigm of exclusion & coercion. And this is a good beginning," it said.
'Certain issues'
On Monday morning, negotiators were reported to be putting the finishing touches to a 100-page accord that included five technical annexes and planned to wrap up the negotiations by midnight, the latest in a series of self-imposed deadlines.
But Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, later conceded that "certain issues" remained unresolved.
Diplomats told the Associated Press that they included the International Atomic Energy Agency's investigation into the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear programme, as well as Iranian demands that a UN arms embargo be lifted and that its nuclear activities not be described as illegal in any UN Security Council resolution approving the deal.
If a long-term agreement is reached, it still faces a tough ride through the US Congress, which could reject it and leave US sanctions against Iran in place.
Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, told Fox News on Sunday: "I think it's going to be a very hard sell... We already know it's going to leave Iran as a threshold nuclear state."Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, told Fox News on Sunday: "I think it's going to be a very hard sell... We already know it's going to leave Iran as a threshold nuclear state."
A deal is also strongly opposed by the two main US allies in the region, Israel and Saudi Arabia, who feel threatened by Iran. Whenever the talks do finally end, our correspondent says, any deal will be a historic commitment and have the potential to open up not just global trade with Iran but also a new dialogue aimed at far greater co-operation against a shared enemy - the jihadist group, Islamic State (IS).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday accused the P5+1 of "caving in" to Iran. It followed comments by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said the fight against US "arrogance" would continue regardless of the outcome of the talks.