Negotiators resume talks in Vienna

World powers get back to work Tuesday seeking to nail down an elusive nuclear deal ending a 13-year standoff with Iran, only hours before another deadline expires.

After talking deep into the night Monday, foreign ministers from the so-called P5+1 group leading the negotiations meet briefly again Tuesday without the Iranian delegation.

The group — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States — is seeking to hammer out a final accord to put an atomic bomb out of Iran’s reach.

But Tuesday’s deadline for a deal — the fourth since an interim deal was struck in November 2013 — looks almost certain to be missed, as the ministers grapple with the toughest remaining issues which have so far thwarted an accord.

Diplomats extended their discussions by a week when they missed their goal of a pact by June 30, after passing previous deadlines in July 2014 and last November. For US Secretary of State John Kerry and his team, pressure is increasing from skeptical US allies and members of Congress. If the accord isn’t sent over to American lawmakers by Thursday, their month-long review period would be doubled to 60 days, hampering the ability of the Obama administration to offer speedy economic benefits to Iran for nuclear concessions.

— AFP, AP