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World|politics|March 31, 2015 / 09:15 AM
Iran, powers rush for nuclear deal as clock ticks toward deadline

AKIPRESS.COM - Iran-Nuclear-Case Iran and six world powers ramped up the pace of negotiations on Tuesday ahead of a deadline for a preliminary nuclear deal that was less than 24 hours away, as both sides warned it was crucial to overcome differences that could wreck an agreement.

For nearly a week the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China have been trying to break an impasse in negotiations aimed at stopping Iran from having the capacity to develop a nuclear bomb, in exchange for an easing of international sanctions that are crippling its economy, reports Reuters.

But disagreements on enrichment research and the pace of lifting sanctions threatened to scupper a deal that could end a 12-year standoff between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear ambitions and reduce the risk of another Middle East war.

"We need to get this done now," a Western official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "We only have a few hours left to get a framework agreement or the job is going to become much, much more difficult."

Officials in the Swiss city of Lausanne said talks on a framework accord, which is intended as a prelude to a comprehensive agreement by the end of June, could yet fall apart. They have set a deadline of midnight on Tuesday for a framework agreement, but officials from all sides say it was possible the talks could run past the deadline.

"There still remain some difficult issues," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told CNN. "We are working very hard to work those through. We are working into the night."

Both Iran and the six have floated compromise proposals but agreement has remained elusive. Western officials said Tehran has recently backed away from proposals it previously indicated it could accept, such as on shipping enriched uranium stocks to Russia.

But a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said there was never a definite agreement on shipping uranium stocks abroad and other options existed to resolve the issue. Officials close to the talks said dilution of the stockpiled uranium was an option.

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