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Last days of Iran talks showed signs of promise

There had been indications of new progress behind the scenes in the Iran talks' final days.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Britain's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (LtoR) pose for photographers before a meeting in Vienna November 24, 2014. Iran, the United States and other world powers are all but certain to miss Monday's deadline for negotiations to resolve a 12-year stand-off over Tehran's atomic ambitions, forcing them to seek an extension, sources say. The talks in Vienna could lead to a transformation of t

VIENNA — Two narratives have emerged from the Iran final deal nuclear talks held in Vienna this week that resulted in the decision to extend the talks another seven months, with four months to try to reach a political accord.

One narrative, suggested by US and other Western officials, is that though some progress was made, it came late, and amid continued significant gaps on core issues that necessitated extending the negotiations into next year.

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