Iranian n- talks to be extended to November

Iranian nuclear talks will be extended for four more months, as stakeholders still have "significant gaps on core issues", Catherine Ashton, the High Commissioner of European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said here Saturday.

Iran and six world powers agreed to extend the terms of validity of the Geneva interim deal to Nov 24, Xinhua quoted her as saying. "We have made tangible progress on some of the issues ... there are still significant gaps on some core issues which will require more time and effort."

The six-month interim deal, which took effect Jan 20 and would expire just one day later , was designed to buy time for diplomatic negotiations on a final settlement of the decade-old dispute over Iran's nuclear programme.

Under the interim deal, Iran agreed to suspend some sensitive nuclear activities in exchange of limited sanction relief.