Western nations, Iran extend nuclear talks deadline to end of June

The deadline to reach an agreement on Iran's nuclear programme has been extended to the end of June after Vienna talks failed to reach a comprehensive agreement.

United States Secretary of State John Kerry remarked that after the progress made by the nations in the past year and the last few days, it is not the time to "get up and walk away." While he admitted that the talks had been tough, he said that "substantial progress" had been made. The nations will meet again in December, reported the BBC.

Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani, on the other hand, said that most gaps "had been narrowed" and that their positions with the other side got closer. He added that there was a time when the world power were strictly against uranium enrichment in Iran but today, there is no doubt that the enrichment will continue.

The P5+1 nations, including, the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, France and China, and Iran now hope to reach a high-level political agreement by March 1and confirm the full technical details of the agreement by July 1.

Meanwhile, Iran would be allowed to continue accessing 700 million dollars a month in frozen assets during this period.

The six nations accuse Iran of building nuclear weapons under the pretense of developing its nuclear capabilities for civilian purposes. They want Tehran to curb its nuclear ambitions in return for the lifting of United Nations sanctions.

The world powers struck an interim deal with Iran last year, known as the Geneva Accord that persuaded Tehran to curb some of its uranium enrichment in lieu of relief from sanctions.

The two sides failed to reach an agreement by July and therefore, agreed to extend the deadline to November 24.