Britain 'not optimistic' on Iran nuclear talks

Britain expressed doubts today that a nuclear deal could be reached with Iran by a looming deadline, as Tehran and six world powers haggled in a final round of talks in Vienna.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, speaking in Latvia, indicated the most to be hoped for was enough progress to justify putting yet more time on the clock beyond Monday's cut-off point to get a deal.
"I am not optimistic that we can get everything done by Monday," he said.
"But I think if we make some significant movement, we may be able to find a way of extending the deadline to allow us to get to the final deal, if we are making good progress in the right direction."

He added: "There will need to be some considerable further flexibility shown by the Iranian negotiators over the next four or five days if we are going to get to that deal."
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany been negotiating since February to turn an interim accord with Iran reached a year ago into a lasting agreement before November 24.

Such a deal is aimed at easing fears that Tehran might develop nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian activities -- an ambition it denies.
It could resolve a 12-year standoff, silence talk of war, help normalise Iran's relations with the West and mark a rare foreign success for US President Barack Obama.

Some areas appear provisionally settled, such as the future of the Arak nuclear reactor and tighter UN inspections to better detect any attempt to build a bomb.
But two key issues remain: uranium enrichment -- rendering uranium suitable for peaceful uses but also, at high purities, for a weapon -- and the pace at which sanctions on Iran would be lifted under a deal.
Iran wants to massively ramp up the number of enrichment centrifuges -- in order, it says, to make fuel for a fleet of future reactors -- while the West wants them dramatically reduced, reportedly by half.