Iran meets P5+1 as nuclear deal faces deadline

Iran and world powers met in Muscat Nov. 11 amid growing signs that a long-bargained deal on Tehran's nuclear programme will not be struck by a November 24 deadline.
      
The one-day meeting comes after lengthy discussions between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif broke off in the Gulf sultanate late Monday with no signs of progress.
      
Tuesday's meeting between Iran's nuclear negotiating team and officials from the P5+1 -- -- the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China, plus Germany -- started around 11:45 am (0745 GMT).
      
The discussions, chaired by former EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, were scheduled to brief the P5+1 members on Kerry and Zarif's talks, but Iranian and US officials indicated Monday that big obstacles stand in the way of a final agreement.
      
The West still appears unconvinced of Iran's reassurances that it has not sought and will not attempt to develop an atomic bomb, while Tehran wants greater assurances on when sanctions will be lifted, as well as fewer curbs on its nuclear activities.
      
The US State Department said the head-to-head meetings -- more than 10 hours across two days -- proved "tough, direct and serious", adding that "there is still time" for progress.
      
Iran's deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi, quoted by state media, was more candid.
      
"To reach a result by November 24 is very difficult but we do not despair," he said.
      
A US official said Kerry's top two negotiators, Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Bill Burns, a former under secretary, would attend the P5+1 briefing which will also include technical experts on nuclear policy and sanctions.
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