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Britain’s Hammond says major differences remain in Iran talks

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British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Sunday in Vienna there were still major differences on a proposed nuclear deal between major powers and Iran and there would need to be concessions to reach an agreement.

“There a number of different areas where we still have major differences of interpretation in detailing what was agreed in (the) Lausanne (framework agreement),” Hammond told reporters on arrival in Vienna. He was referring to a framework deal agreed on April 2.

“There is going to have to be some give or take if we are to get this done in the next few days,” he said, adding that there were red lines that could not be crossed. “No deal is better than a bad deal.”

Meanwhile, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Sunday that a last-minute deal between Iran and world powers on Tehran’s nuclear programme was still possible.

“If all negotiating parties have strong political will in these last moments, we can make it,” she said in a tweet from the negotiations in Vienna.

The Iranian regime and the US have been highlighting their red lines in the run-up to this round of negotiations.
Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the clerical regime, said in Tehran on Tuesday that onerous nuclear-research restrictions and delayed sanctions relief would be deal killers.

Two days later, US officials reiterated that relief wouldn’t be given until international monitors have verified the deal is in place.

Diplomats have said they’ll probably miss the 30 June deadline and are prepared to stay longer. Should an agreement be reached, American negotiators have until July 9 to provide Congress with documents to streamline the review process.