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 The sources, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said
the top Iranian and U.S. diplomats were preparing ideas that could
be shown to both countries' capitals.
"Discussions are continuing," said a senior U.S. official, who
declined to discuss details about the negotiations in Vienna.
One source said it was too early to say whether this latest joint
effort indicated an actual narrowing of the wide differences between
Iran and the six powers.
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 Tehran would curb its nuclear work in exchange for
a lifting of economically crippling sanctions. Iran rejects Western
allegations that it has been seeking to develop a nuclear bomb
capability.
Officials close to the negotiations in Vienna said at mid-week the
two sides remained deadlocked on key issues, were unlikely to secure
a definitive accord by Nov. 24, and might need to extend the
deadline.
Separately, sources close to the talks said Oman's Foreign Minister
Yusuf bin Alawi was in Vienna, though Western officials said he was
not playing an active mediation role in relation to the latest ideas
under discussion by Kerry and Zarif. Oman was a key intermediary
when Tehran and Washington launched secret talks on a possible
nuclear deal more than a year ago.
 British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said earlier on Friday in
Vienna: "These are complex issues and there are still significant
gaps between the parties. We're all going away to have technical
discussions with our experts and we'll resume again over the ...
weekend."
'ADDITIONAL EFFORTS'
A senior Western diplomat said he was not optimistic about prospects
for a long-term agreement by Monday's deadline.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Kerry agreed that
"additional efforts" were needed to reach a deal by the self-imposed
deadline, Russia's Foreign Ministry said.
"The sides did not rule out the possibility of holding a ministerial
meeting of the parties to the talks on Iran's nuclear programme, if
the prospect for progress appears," the ministry said in a
statement.
A senior Western diplomat declined to comment on the nature of the
discussions between Zarif and Kerry, but said "we are still very far
away" from an agreement.
Western powers suspect Iran has aimed to covertly acquire a nuclear
bomb capability from its enrichment of uranium. Iran says the
programme is for producing civilian energy only. The lingering
dispute has raised fears of a wider Middle East war.
Zarif canceled announced plans to return to Tehran for top-level
discussions with the deadline looming, Iranian media reported. The
reason was not immediately known.
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"The talks have not reached a stage that necessitates Zarif to go to
Tehran," an unidentified senior member of the Iranian delegation
told the IRNA and ISNA news agencies.
U.S. and French officials said earlier that Kerry and French Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius would return to Paris later in the day for
consultations. But they later said both ministers would stay
overnight in the Austrian capital.
A source close to the talks said that Zarif had received a document
from the powers that outlined the main principles of a possible
agreement.
STICKING POINTS
Western diplomats told Reuters earlier this week that a U.S.-drafted
proposal shown to Iran at preparatory talks in Oman earlier this
month called for the Islamic Republic to reduce the number of its
uranium enrichment centrifuges to 4,500, well below the current
19,000 Tehran now has installed.
Iran has about 10,000 of those machines in operation. Iranian
officials have refused to reduce the volume of uranium they are
capable of enriching, a stand Western officials say is unacceptable
as this would potentially allow Tehran to amass enough fissile
material for an atomic bomb in little time.
This is a major sticking point in the talks.
Another sticking point is the pace and sequencing of sanctions
relief. Iran wants them terminated swiftly, not suspended and
gradually scrapped, depending on the degree of Iranian compliance
with the deal terms, as the West wants.
Another dispute is over the deal's duration - the powers want it to
be up to 20 years, Iran wants this much shorter.
"We have to get more flexibility from the Iranians," Britain's
Hammond said. "In return we are prepared to show some flexibility on
our side. But time is short, we are up against a deadline here."
An interim accord struck on Nov. 24 last year yielded steps by Iran
to curb some sensitive nuclear activity, such as higher-grade
enrichment, in return for some sanctions relief.
(Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi, Fredrik Dahl and John Irish;
Editing by Grant McCool)
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