World powers huddled again on Saturday behind closed doors on the 15th day of negotiations seeking a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions, with no sign of any end to the nail-biting deadlock.
Despite a warning from US Secretary of State John Kerry that he would not sit at the negotiating table forever, an Iranian official told AFP the talks, now entering their third week, could stretch on and on.
“We have no time-limit in order to reach a good deal,” the senior Iranian official said, asked if the negotiations could be formally extended again in a bid to end the current deadlock.
Iran and the so-called the P5+1 group – Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- are seeking to curtail Tehran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons in exchange for relief from painful sanctions. After a very public blame game about the reasons behind the stalemate, Kerry on Friday had offered a glimmer of hope that some progress may be being made saying some outstanding issues had been resolved.