Germany's Steinmeier urges 'courage' from Tehran

Germany's top diplomat Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned Sunday night against missing the "wonderful" opportunity to end the West’s 12-year long nuclear row with Iran.

"I hope that it is clear to all parties in these final days that this is a unique chance that we have now," Steinmeier said, after returning to Vienna to continue marathon nuclear talks with representatives of Iran, the US, Russia, China, Britain and France.

"This calls for courage and readiness for compromise, and I hope mainly that Tehran will show this courage," he added.

'Nothing is clear'

The talks between Iranian government and the six powers should prevent Iran from being capable to produce a nuclear weapon, and result in relief of sanctions suffocating Iran's economy. While both sides claim progress, American Secretary of State John said earlier on Sunday that the negotiations "could go either way."

"If hard choices get made in the next couple of days, made quickly, we could get an agreement this week, but if they are not made we will not," he said, pointing out that the US is still ready to walk from the negotiating table.

Iran's foreign minister also stated that there were unresolved issues.

"Still nothing is clear. Some differences remain and we are trying and working hard," Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters early Monday.

Race against the clock

According to diplomatic sources, there is already a tentative agreement on a mechanism on suspending American and EU sanctions on Iran. However, a UN Security Council resolution on lifting and potentially re-imposing sanctions remains under dispute, diplomats say.

Iran and the international officials also disagree on future monitoring, and a UN probe into Tehran's past nuclear research, news agency Reuters reports.

If the deal is not reached by Tuesday, a previous, interim agreement would run out: Tehran could then expand nuclear activities that have been kept frozen, while the West could re-impose some of the sanctions that have been suspended.

The package has already been extended three times, most recently on June 30.

While Kerry claims that the negotiators still aim to reach a deal before Tuesday, other diplomats consider Thursday, July 9, to be a more realistic deadline. This is also the deadline for the Obama administration to submit a deal to the US Congress in order to get an expedited, 30-day review.

dj/jr (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)