As Deadline Nears, Doubt Looms Over Iran Nuclear Talks

Diplomats in Vienna have warned that talks between six major world powers and Iran over its nuclear program might not conclude by their Monday deadline. The negotiations aim to end a 12-year standoff between both sides.

"After a decade of talks, we have reached the moment of truth in Vienna," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters on the sidelines of negotiations in Vienna on Saturday.



Germany's foreign minister joined his US counterpart, Secretary of State John Kerry, on Saturday, as negotiations entered their final stage.



Diplomats from Britain, the United States, Russia, China, France and Germany have been meeting with their Iranian counterparts in the Austrian capital this weekend to finalize agreements on Tehran's nuclear program. The group aims to finalize a deal by Monday, replacing an interim accord reached a year ago and bringing roughly nine months of negotiations to a close.



But despite the fast-approaching deadline, the German Foreign Minister underscored what many sources close to the talks had been saying on Saturday: "Whether we reach a result is still completely open at this point."



At the heart of the high-level talks are the West's desire to hinder Iran's uranium enrichment capabilities - specifically, preventing Tehran from being able to produce atomic weapons - and Iran's desire for the West to end crippling economic sanctions. Iran contends its uranium enrichment program will only be used for energy production. However, the West has argued that intelligence information suggests the size of the program and Iranian research could be adapted for the production of weapons.



Kerry: 'serious gaps' in talks



Speaking alongside Steinmeier, the US's top diplomat, John Kerry, emphasized that all sides were working fervently toward a pact, but also admitted that both sides must still bridge sizable gaps before Monday.



"We're working hard," Kerry said, "and we hope we're making careful progress, but we have big gaps, we still have some serious gaps, which we're working to close."



Declining to divulge details of the ongoing negotiations, Kerry noted that there was "a lot of serious work" going on by a lot of people.



Earlier on Saturday, the US' top diplomat briefed counterparts in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on the state of the high-level talks.



Another interim deal?



Diplomats revealed few details about the substance of the meetings on Saturday. However, sources were cited across the media as predicting the talks would continue past the November 24 deadline.



A European source told Reuters news agency that there was only a "very small" chance that the six powers and Iran would finalize a deal by Monday.



Meanwhile, an Iranian source speaking to the news agency AFP was "ed as saying that there was "no other scenario possible at this stage" than for both sides to agree on a "general framework" and then to fill in the details at a later date.



Kerry was due to meet Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif later on Saturday. Zarif and Kerry have both stressed that an extension of talks had not been discussed.



kms/mg (AFP, Reuters, dpa)