Iran nuclear talks could still 'go either way'

Vienna (AFP) - Top ministers were due to meet Monday seeking to conclude an unprecedented nuclear deal with Iran, on the eve of a deadline aiming to draw the curtain on almost two years of high-stakes negotiations. After criss-crossing the world since September 2013 chasing a complex accord to cut off Iran's pathways to developing nuclear arms, exhausted world powers warned Tehran now was the time to strike an accord or walk away. US Secretary of State John Kerry, who met four times on Sunday with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad, acknowledged that at the eleventh hour the talks still "could go either way". "All the cards are on the table," added French Foreign minister Laurent Fabius, as he arrived back in Vienna for the final stretch with Tuesday's deadline looming. There is no appetite to extend the talks once again after a series of missed deadlines, especially since the broad outlines of the deal were already hammered out in April. If all sides were prepared to make hard choices, then "we could get an agreement this week. But if they are not made, we will not," Kerry warned, adding that if there was "absolute intransigence" the US would walk away. "The main question is to know whether the Iranians will accept making clear commitments on what until now has not been clarified," Fabius added. The global powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- are trying to pin down a deal putting a nuclear bomb out of Iran's reach in return for lifting a web of sanctions against the Islamic republic. Some of the hardest issues still left have bedevilled the talks since the start -- probing allegations that in the past Iran sought nuclear weapons, finding a mechanism to lift the sanctions, and ensuring Iran can continue to have nuclear energy without the capacity to build a bomb. "The time is now... We are very close," said the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, adding the atmosphere was "constructive, positive". "I see the political will ... now it is a matter of seeing all together if this political will manages to translate into political decisions." Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier flew back into the Austrian capital late Sunday, along with Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov. There was no confirmation when their Chinese and British counterparts were due, although they were expected on Monday [caption id="attachment_78510" align="alignnone" width="500"] US Secretary of State John Kerry delivers a statement on the Iran talks in Vienna, Austria, July 5, 2015[/caption]