ANKARA
A final comprehensive nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers group P5+1 countries, which was due to be concluded Monday night, may be extended until Tuesday night, Iranian media reported Monday.
Despite the delay, there is hope that success may be acheived in the ongoing talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif wrote on his official twitter account late Monday night: "If a deal is reached, triumph of diplomacy means we all will have won when we all could have lost. Plain and simple; no spin needed”.
Meanwhile, foreign ministers of Iran and P5+1 countries are scheduled to hold a plenary meeting on Monday evening. "The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Central European Time," Iran's Tasnim News Agency said.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is also expected to the address his nation with a televised speech at 7:30 p.m. Central European Time, Iran's Culture Ministry said, according to Tasnim.
However, it remains unclear whether a final agreement could be reached by Monday midnight.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday "There is always a chance," when he was asked about the possibility of wrapping up a final nuclear deal tonight, according to Russian news agency Sputnik.
According to Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), Zarif said Monday after meeting his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi: "I always believe there shouldn’t be any extension. We could work as long as necessary to finish this".
Zarif told reporters Sunday night that there would not be any further extensions to the nuclear talks beyond Monday.
However, his deputy, Abbas Araqchi told media in Vienna early Monday that a final deal might be reached on Tuesday night.
"The negotiations have reached the final breath-taking moments. There are still problems remaining," Araqchi was quoted as saying by Iranian Tasnim News Agency.
"I would not promise that the outstanding issues will be settled tonight or tomorrow night," the deputy foreign minister added.
Araqchi emphasized that a final nuclear agreement could not be announced unless all the existing problems were removed, according to the Iranian Republic News Agency (IRNA).
"We hope to achieve good results... if we manage to conclude the problems and lead all the issues to a point that would be agreed by both sides," he was quoted saying by Tasnim.
The sides are working beyond the official July 7 deadline to ink a final deal. Time and scope of removal of sanctions on Iran, and the international inspectors' access to Iranian military sites are regarded as two of the major hurdles in the negotiations.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Monday that there were some issues outstanding; however, he did not expect any more delays in reaching a final deal.
"Conditions are already in place to reach a good agreement. We believe there should be no further delays," he said, according to IRNA.
The foreign minister said progress had been made in the last few days, despite the fact that some obstacles remained, adding "China believes no agreement is perfect."
Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akbar Salehi, announced earlier that the technical talks on Iran's nuclear program were practically over.
Salehi said that Iran had accepted some limitations on its nuclear program, but it would not allow those limitations to have any impact on its nuclear activities, adding that Iran's right to continue peaceful nuclear activities was preserved, IRNA reported.
All foreign ministers of the sides and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini are present in Vienna.
