Head of Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation Ali Akbar Salehi walking with others during a break in a meeting with world representatives seeking to pin down a nuclear deal with Iran at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne yesterday.

The US said yesterday that world powers and Iran would keep negotiating over an outline accord on Tehran’s nuclear programme beyond a midnight deadline, while warning that it was ready
to abandon the talks altogether.
As Iran affirmed its “nuclear rights”, the talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne appeared to be bogged down, while officials cautioned that any agreement would probably be fragile and incomplete.
Two Western diplomatic sources said the Iranians had been told by the powers that they must make up their minds on whether to accept a political agreement before dawn today.
“We have told them that this has to be decided now,” a source said. “It can’t carry on for six more
days.”
The US State Department said the efforts for a deal would go on past the self-imposed deadline of March 31. “We’ve made enough progress in the last days to merit staying until Wednesday,” acting spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement. “There are several difficult issues still remaining.”


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