Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry are going to meet in the coming hours in a 19th century Viennese palace to discuss the latest status of the nuclear talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
While Tuesday was the official deadline to reach a lasting deal, negotiations at the level of deputy foreign ministers and experts went into overtime on Wednesday morning in a marathon attempt to finalize the text of the accord.
US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the sides had agreed to extend the preliminary agreement until July 7 "to allow more time for negotiations to reach a long-term solution".
On Tuesday, Iran's lead negotiator Zarif held separate meetings with Kerry, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano.
Meanwhile, a ranking diplomat from the Group 5+1 (alternatively known as the P5+1 or E3+3) said foreign ministers of the negotiating parties are likely to hold a meeting on July 5.
Back on April 2, Iran and the six nations reached a framework nuclear agreement in Lausanne, Switzerland, that provides outlines of a final agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
