VIENNA, June 30 : Six major powers and Iran have decided to extend an interim nuclear agreement until July 7 to allow more time for negotiations on a final deal, the United States said on Tuesday the deadline for a long-term accord.
"The P5+1 and Iran have decided to extend the measures under the Joint Plan of Action until July 7 to allow more time for negotiations to reach a long-term solution ... on the Iran nuclear issue," Marie Harf, senior adviser for strategic communications at the U.S. State Department, said,
The so-called "P5+1" are the six major powers negotiating with Iran - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.
An earlier report says: Iran and six world powers ramped up negotiations on Tuesday after accepting they would miss a June 30 deadline for a nuclear deal, with both sides cautioning that major obstacles to a lasting agreement remained.
Diplomats said the Vienna talks would run on for as long as necessary to reach a deal intended to promise an end to sanctions in exchange for at least a decade of limits on Iran's most sensitive nuclear activities.
The West and its allies suspect Iran may be developing technology that would allow it to build nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian atomic energy programme, but Tehran says its ambitions are strictly peaceful.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is on crutches due to a broken leg, has remained in Vienna to await the return of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif from consultations with the leadership in Tehran, and the arrival of the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China.    ?REUTERS