BICOM

UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said that he believed a deal with Iran was unlikely to be reached before next Monday’s deadline.

Speaking to journalists in Riga, he said, “I’m not optimistic that we can get everything done by Monday.” However, Mr Hammond left open the possibility of another extension to the negotiation deadline, stating that, “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’re making good progress in the right direction.”

US sources had previously suggested that a deadline extension was not an option. The Guardian quoted a senior US official as saying “I can tell you that extension is not and has not been a subject of negotiations at this point.”

Earlier this week, Mr Hammond had said that the UK would not “do a bad deal. Better no deal than a bad deal.”

On his arrival in Vienna for the talks on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters that the P5+1 powers were making “excessive demands”. He added, “If, because of excessive demands by the other side we don’t get a result, then the world will understand that the Islamic Republic sought a solution, a compromise and a constructive agreement and that it will not renounce its rights and the greatness of the nation.”

While progress was reportedly made in the expert-level talks in Muscat, the two sides still disagree on several key issues. The P5+1 want a significant reduction in nuclear Iranian enrichment capacity, which Iran refuses to agree to. Meanwhile, Iran wants immediate sanctions relief but the P5+1 prefer a gradual lifting of sanctions to be sure that Iran implements the agreement.