Reuters/Paris
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State John Kerry, acknowledged on Thursday there was some way to go to iron out differences with Iran over its nuclear programme.
"We want a deal, but important points of difference remain," Fabius said in a joint statement with Kerry in Paris.
"We hope that we can reduce those in the coming days, but that will depend on the attitude of the Iranians."
Fabius, whose country is deemed to have a tough stance in the talks, is due to head to Vienna before the weekend.
Kerry said he shared Fabius' view and noted the so-called P5+1 group which also includes Britain, China, Germany and Russia, that are meeting Iranian officials this week in Vienna had a united approach even if there could be "minor differences" between all them.
"On the fundamental principles ... we are in agreement that you have to be able to verify this, there has to be limits, an acceptable level and we are confident of our unity," he told a separate news conference at the U.S. embassy in Paris.
Asked whether the most likely conclusion on Nov. 24 was an extension in talks - something diplomats have said privately is probable - Kerry said that was not being talked about.
"We are not discussing an extension, we are negotiating to try and get an agreement," he said. "If you get to the final hour and you need to look at alternatives then we'll look at them," he said, ahead of travelling to Vienna later on Thursday.
