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 Diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the
United States wore grim expressions as they met and U.S. Secretary
of State John Kerry sat in silence when asked if the deadline might
be extended or if he could rule out an extension.
"There shouldn't be any extension," Iranian Foreign Minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars
news agency. "But we can continue the talks as long as necessary."
One of his deputies also sounded a cautionary note.
"I cannot promise whether the remaining issues can be resolved
tonight or tomorrow night. Some issues still remain unresolved and,
until they are solved, we cannot say an agreement has been reached,"
Iran's Tasnim news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas
Araqchi as saying in Vienna.
Diplomats close to the talks said there were contingency plans for
an announcement ceremony on Monday if the negotiators sealed an
agreement, which would open the door to ending sanctions that have
crippled Iran's economy, in exchange for at least a decade of curbs
on its nuclear program.
The Western powers in particular suspect Iran may have sought to use
its civil nuclear program as a cover to develop a nuclear weapons
capability. Iran says the program is solely for peaceful purposes.
 The six major powers have given themselves until Monday to reach a
deal with Iran. If they fail to get one by midnight, they will need
to extend the terms of an interim nuclear deal with Tehran that has
already been extended three times in two weeks.
Another option is to walk away, something both the Americans and
Iranians have said they are willing to do. They could also suspend
the talks for a few weeks or months, though Iran has said it opposes
this.
"MAJOR ISSUES"
Kerry has cautioned that "major issues" remain to be resolved, and
comments from both senior Republican and Democratic senators on
Sunday suggested that any final deal would also face tough scrutiny
in the U.S. Congress.
"The parts of the deal are there," said a senior official from one
of the six countries. "We still need to put the finishing touches
together. All sides have to decide now. It's time to say 'Yes'."
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A senior Iranian official said 99 percent of the issues had been
resolved, adding: "With political will, we can finish the work late
tonight and announce it tomorrow."
Among the biggest sticking points in the past week has been Iran's
insistence that a United Nations Security Council arms embargo and
ban on its ballistic missile program dating from 2006 be lifted
immediately if an agreement is reached.
Russia, which sells weapons to Iran, has publicly supported Tehran
on the issue.
Other problematic issues are access for inspectors to military sites
in Iran, explanations from Tehran of past activity that might have
been aimed at developing a nuclear weapon, and the overall speed of
sanctions relief.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's point-man on the Iranian
talks, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, told Israel’s Army Radio he
was expecting an agreement on Monday or Tuesday. He reiterated
Israel's opposition to the deal.
"What is being drafted, even if we managed to slightly improve it
over the past year, is a bad agreement, full of loopholes," he said.
"If we call it by its true name, they are selling the world's future
for a questionable diplomatic achievement in the present."
(Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi, Arshad Mohammed and Shadia
Nasralla in Vienna, Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem, Dubai bureau;
Writing by Louis Charbonneau and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Kevin
Liffey)
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