Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
Monday’s talks were the final day of a lengthy session in Vienna
The deadline for a nuclear deal with Iran has been extended to the end of June after talks in Vienna failed to reach a comprehensive agreement.
UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said good progress had been made, but it was “not possible to get an agreement by the [original] deadline”.
Six world powers want Iran to curb its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions.
Tehran says it is not seeking nuclear weapons, but wants atomic energy.
The six countries – the US, UK, Russia, China, France and Germany – have been in negotiations with Iran to finalise a preliminary deal reached last year in Geneva.
Speaking after the Vienna talks had ended, Mr Hammond said that negotiations would resume in December, and would be extended until 30 June 2015.
Iran would be allowed to continue accessing $700m (£450m) a month in frozen assets during that period.
Diplomats are hoping to reach a high-level political agreement by 1 March, with the full technical details of the agreement confirmed by 1 July.
‘Maintaining momentum’Speaking to the BBC, Mr Hammond said that the failure to agree a deal was “a disappointment, but rather than continue blindly we have to recognise the reality that we’re not going to make a deal tonight”.
BBC