Iran, U.S. claim progress in latest round of nuclear talks

We believe we are making progress and we are going to continue to work because of that: John Kerry

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani (right) greets Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano, at the start of their meeting in Tehran on Thursday. Iran has met a key commitment, leaving it with several tonnes less of the material it could use to make weapons, according to a U.N. report issued on Wednesday.

Iran and six world powers are making progress in the latest round of talks over Iran’s long-disputed nuclear programme, said top diplomats of the U.S. and Iran here.

“We have some very difficult issues, but we believe we are making progress and we are going to continue to work because of that,” said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry after a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna here on Wednesday, one day after the self-imposed June 30 deadline.

‘We have made progress’

Earlier on Wednesday, Mr. Zarif also told reporters: “We have made progress and we will make progress and we will use every opportunity to make progress.”

As U.S. State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf announced on Tuesday, the fresh round of nuclear talks was extended from June 30 to July 7.

Iran and the P5+1 group — the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China, plus Germany — agreed on a framework of understanding in April, and set June 30 as the deadline for concluding a final deal, after missing two previous deadlines in June and November.