Road to final deal on nuclear issue difficult: Iranian official

An Iranian nuclear negotiator Thursday said big gaps remain in the Iranian nuclear talks, and there was still "a difficult road" ahead to reach a final deal.

Representatives from Iran and the three EU members of the P5+1 talks (five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) Thursday met in the UN headquarters in Vienna, exchanging view of the upcoming talks in New York, Xinhua reported.

After the meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told reporters that Iran was optimistic about reaching the final deal by the late November deadline though the differences were still big, noting that the negotiation would be tough.

"We are always optimistic, but we have a difficult road to go," Araqchi said.

Senior diplomats from Iran and the P5+1 group participated in rounds of negotiations in Vienna this year, trying to find a solution to the controversial Tehran atomic plan. However, negotiators failed to bridge the gaps, especially the core issue, the uranium enrichment programme.

Under a milestone deal in Geneva last November, Iran agreed to freeze some disputed nuclear activities in exchange for some western sanction relief in a six-month period.

The deadline for reaching a final deal on Iranian nuclear issue was extended to late November this year as the negotiations were tough.