A European Council statement said the extension would “allow more time for the ongoing negotiations to reach a long term solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.”
The US has also said that it is taking the necessary technical steps to extend the Joint Plan of Action until Monday.
Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany have been extending the self-imposed deadline on their nuclear negotiations for a couple of days after having missed the June 30 deadline.
The two sides have been engaged in a marathon of talks in the Austrian capital to reach a long-term agreement over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Despite the missed successive self-imposed deadlines and the ‘painfully slow’ progress in the talks as quoted by British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, US Secretary of States John Kerry told a group of reporters in Vienna on Friday that "I think we have resolved some of the things that were outstanding and we've made some progress.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also said on Thursday that several countries in the 5+1 group were shifting in positions and bringing up 'extensive demands;' “such issues have made the negotiations difficult. We want a dignified agreement and negotiations, and we will continue to negotiate. The deal would be within reach should the other side seek an honorable and balanced accord,” Zarif said late on Thursday.
While all evidence and media reports showed an agreement being reached in recent, US stance on the deal drastically changed following US Secretary of States John Kerry's phone conversation with US President Obama. Iran's FM Zarif criticized the shift in position by tweeting that 'horses cannot be changed in the middle of stream;' and Russian FM Lavrov slamming the 'western partners' for changing positions on what they had already agreed upon.
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