White House Says Iran Talks Could Continue Past Wednesday

The White House signaled Wednesday that talks between Iran and world powers could continue past Wednesday as long as sufficient progress is made.



"It's fair for you to assume that the approach that we demonstrated yesterday is one that we'll continue to demonstrate, which is placing a priority on the productive nature of the talks and trying to reach an agreement," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.



He said Tuesday that talks would continue past a March 31 deadline for a political framework agreement on Iran's nuclear program as long as they continued to be productive. The forward momentum seems to have continued through the day Wednesday, though gaps remain between the parties.



"The talks continue to be productive and progress is being made," Earnest said.



Still, he warned that should the talks stall, the U.S. and its negotiating partners are "prepared to walk away."



President Barack Obama and his national security team held a video teleconference with the U.S.'s negotiating team in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Tuesday, and was briefed again Wednesday morning, according to Earnest.



Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers, which includes the U.S., China, France, Russia, the UK, plus Germany, set the end of March for negotiators to reach an outline of a much sought after deal on Iran's nuclear program.



Negotiators have been engaged in marathon talks to try to reach the deal ahead of an end of June deadline for a final accord.  



Two previous deadlines for a deal have passed as negotiators seek to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.



Tehran has long maintained that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful civilian purposes but world powers are suspicious that the program could potentially be used for military purposes.



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