US, EU and Iran meet for nuclear talks

The high-level talks in Muscat on Sunday aimed to speed up progress towards reaching a deal on limiting Tehran's nuclear program in return for easing sanctions by a November 24 deadline.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, US Secretary of State John Kerry and EU envoy Catherine Ashton took part in the discussions, which are part of an attempt to resolve a decades-long standoff between Iran and Western countries.

The three diplomats did not make any comments to journalists at the talks, but ahead of the meeting, Foreign Minister Zarif said sanctions on Iran had brought "no result" for the West.

"There is still a gap between the two parties on the size of the enrichment program and the mechanism for lifting sanctions," Iran's news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.

"If the other party acts with good political will, we can reach an agreement," he added.

As Kerry arrived in Oman, a senior US official told Reuters the three-way talks would be "an important meeting," geared towards making progress to meet the deadline.

'Major gaps' remain

Western countries fear Iran is covertly seeking to develop nuclear weapons, but Tehran maintains its nuclear program is for civilian and scientific purposes. The country has been slapped with economic sanctions by the EU, US and UN Security Council over its refusal to curb its uranium enrichment capacity.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - plus Germany, collectively known as the P5+1 group, had struck an interim deal last November, under which Iran would halt higher-grade enrichment in exchange for limited sanctions relief. That accord, which was to expire in July, was then extended by four months.

US officials cited by Reuters say there are still major gaps between the negotiating parties. The biggest stumbling blocks appear to be debate over the size of Iran's enrichment program - and how many uranium-enriching centrifuges it should be allowed to keep spinning - as well as the length of any long-term agreement and how quickly international sanctions should be phased out.

After Sunday's meeting, representatives from the P5+1 countries will hold further talks in Muscat on Tuesday. Negotiators from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia are then expected to join a final round of talks in Vienna on November 18.

nm/tj (AP, AFP, Reuters)