Russia Says All Parties to Meet for New Iran Talks Thursday

Iran's foreign minister said Tuesday "numerous questions" remain in talks with world powers aimed at breaking a deadlock in nuclear negotiations, as a delegation he led held fresh discussions with U.S. and EU representatives in Vienna.

The two sides have just six weeks before a November 24 deadline by which they are meant to come up with a final accord aimed at reducing fears Iran's nuclear program could be used to make atomic weapons, in exchange for lifting harsh Western economic sanctions.

Quoted by Iranian media arriving in Vienna, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said there was "general agreement" but that "numerous questions still need to be resolved."

"We will make every effort to make progress in the coming days," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was due to arrive in Vienna on Wednesday to meet Zarif, who said discussions in the Austrian capital included the "vital issues" of "uranium enrichment and the lifting of sanctions."

Negotiating intensively for months, Washington and other major powers -- China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany (known as the P5+1) -- want Iran to reduce the scope of its atomic activities. The standoff over Tehran's nuclear program has lasted more than a decade, during which tensions have risen.

The Islamic republic, whose President Hassan Rouhani has sought to mend ties with the West, denies wanting the bomb and says it wants to expand its nuclear program only to produce electricity and for treating cancer patients.

In November 2013, Iran and the P5+1 struck an interim deal and gave themselves initially until July 20 to reach a lasting accord. They missed that deadline and agreed to push it back to November 24.

The two sides remain far apart, particularly on the central issue of Iran's future capacity to enrich uranium, a process that can produce fuel for reactors but also, at high purities, the core of a nuclear bomb.

"There are still fairly wide gaps on certain critical issues, and that's what we'll be talking about," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters on Friday.

The Vienna talks on Tuesday, following on from discussions in New York last month, involved Wendy Sherman, Washington's lead negotiator, her Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi and the powers' chief negotiator, EU foreign policy head Catherine Ashton.

Russia's chief negotiator, Sergei Ryabkov, said in Moscow that a "mini-round" involving all Iran and the six powers would take place in Vienna on Thursday, Interfax reported.

A spokesman for Ashton confirmed that to reporters in Vienna, saying the all-in meeting would see Zarif meeting P5+1 political directors.

Analyst Kelsey Davenport from the Arms Control Association told AFP that this week's talks were "critical" and that a deal by November 24 was "still possible if both sides... are willing to be flexible and creative."

But experts have speculated that the parties might extend the deadline yet again. Araqchi said on Friday that such a move was "possible."

"Our will is that in 40 days the matter will be resolved. But if other things happen and we are not able to solve all the problems, the two camps will find a solution," Rouhani said Monday.