Iran Nuclear Talks on Deadline With No Deal in Sight

Heading toward a deadline tomorrow, diplomats seeking to strike a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions are pushing to resolve disagreements that threaten to scuttle or extend the negotiations.

U.S., European and Iranian officials said yesterday that many issues must be resolved in less than 48 hours if they are to reach a breakthrough accord that would constrain Iran’s nuclear activities and phase out international sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to provide specifics.

Negotiators may have to decide as early as today whether to set aside those efforts in order to ready a fall-back agreement.

Such a deal may extend the current interim understanding, known as the joint plan of action, for three to six months to allow for additional bargaining.

Read more: The possibility of an extension has not yet been discussed among the negotiators, the officials said.