Despite progress, Iran nuclear talks hit impasse on details

Source: Reuters

Major powers and Iran were closer to a preliminary accord on reining in Tehran's nuclear program as marathon talks ran into Wednesday, but they hit an impasse over key details such as the lifting of U.N. sanctions and Iran's future atomic research.

The negotiators ended talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne in the early morning hours with an air of chaos, disunity and cacophony as delegations scrambled to get contradictory viewpoints across.

The six powers - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - aim to stop Iran from gaining the capacity to develop a nuclear bomb in exchange for easing international sanctions that are crippling its economy. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.

France's foreign minister, often seen as making the most stringent demands of Iran, returned to Paris because things had not advanced enough for "immediate deal".

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/01/us-iran-nuclear-idUSKBN0MQ0HH20150401