Iran says final nuclear deal with major powers 'impossible' by Nov 24: report

US Secretary of State John Kerry (left), Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (right) and EU envoy Catherine Ashton pose for photographers before a meeting in Vienna on November 22, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
US Secretary of State John Kerry (left), Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (right) and EU envoy Catherine Ashton pose for photographers before a meeting in Vienna on November 22, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran says it will be impossible by a November 24 deadline to reach a comprehensive deal with world powers aimed at resolving the stand-off over Teheran's nuclear ambitions, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported on Sunday.

"Considering the short time left until the deadline and number of issues that needed to be discussed and resolved, it is impossible to reach a final and comprehensive deal by Nov. 24," ISNA quoted an unnamed member of Iran's negotiating team in Vienna as saying.

"The issue of extension of the talks is an option on the table and we will start discussing it if no deal is reached by Sunday night," the person said.

The United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China began a final round of talks with Iran on Tuesday, looking to clinch a pact under which Teheran would curb its nuclear work in exchange for lifting economically crippling sanctions. Iran rejects Western allegations that it has been seeking to develop a nuclear bomb capability.

Iranian and western diplomats close to the negotiations in Vienna told Reuters the two sides remained deadlocked on the key issues of Iran's uranium enrichment capacity and the lifting of the sanctions.

The Iranian official was quoted as saying the sides "were trying to reach a framework accord on major issues like ... the number of centrifuges, enrichment capacity and the timeframe of lifting sanctions."

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