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LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP)

Nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers have entered into overtime, after negotiators decided to ignore a midnight Tuesday deadline and give more time to efforts to reach agreement.

Negotiations were continuing into Wednesday morning, local time. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf says the extension was justified although "several difficult issues" still needed to be bridged.

The sides hope to reach a preliminary understanding that will allow them to enter a new phase of negotiations aiming at a final deal by June.

The U.S and its negotiating partners want to curb Iranian nuclear programs that could be used to make weapons. Iran denies such aims but is negotiating for an end to sanctions.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, right, and European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini wait for the start of a meeting on Iran's nuclear program with other officials from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland Tuesday, March 31, 2015. Diplomats scrambled Tuesday to reach consensus on the outline of an Iran nuclear deal just hours ahead of a self-imposed deadline to produce an agreement. (AP Photo/Brendan Smialowski, Pool) (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AP)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, second left, U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, left, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, center, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, second right, and German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier wait for the start of a meeting on Iran's nuclear program with other officials from France, China, the European Union and Iran at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland Tuesday, March 31, 2015. Diplomats scrambled Tuesday to reach consensus on the outline of an Iran nuclear deal just hours ahead of a self-imposed deadline to produce an agreement. (AP Photo/Brendan Smialowski, Pool) (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AP)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, looks through a window of the hotel during a break after a meeting during a new round of Nuclear Iran Talks, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Tuesday, March 31, 2015. (AP Photo/Keystone, Jean-Christophe Bott) (Jean-christophe Bott/AP)

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, right, and European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini wait for the start of a meeting on Iran's nuclear program with other officials from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland Tuesday, March 31, 2015. Diplomats scrambled Tuesday to reach consensus on the outline of an Iran nuclear deal just hours ahead of a self-imposed deadline to produce an agreement. (AP Photo/Brendan Smialowski, Pool) (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AP)

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Iran nuke talks drag past deadline

Story highlights Sources tell CNN that French foreign minister has told Iranians he is leaving early Wednesday morning Netanyahu: "Agreement ... in Lausanne is paving" way for Iran nuclear weapons Iran, world powers talking to set up parameters for framework deal on Iran's nuclear program

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has informed the Iranian delegation at talks in Switzerland on Iran's nuclear program that he will return to Paris at dawn Wednesday in an apparent effort to force the Iranians' hand, Western diplomatic sources tell CNN.

[Previous story, posted at 4:42 p.m. ET]

Talks to reach a deal on a framework agreement on Iran's nuclear program will be extended an extra day, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

"We've made enough progress in the last days to merit staying until Wednesday. There are several difficult issues still remaining," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the talks would continue another day as "long as the conversations continue to be productive."

Diplomats and negotiators were still working as an initial deadline approached, but another day appeared necessary to reach a framework deal.

A lot can happen before the midnight (6 p.m. ET) deadline in Lausanne, and even afterward -- including the possibility that the negotiators could continue to talk even if there's no deal by then, or that future negotiations toward a more permanent, comprehensive pact fall apart.

Hamid Ba'idinejad from Iran's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday there are no "artificial" deadlines and a deal will be reached, when each issue has been resolved.

Diplomats told CNN that there has been progress, but gaps remain.

Read more from the original source:
Iran nuclear talks go into another day

Story highlights Authors: Iran's people want a deal in hopes of a better economy They say Iran's leaders recognize that having a nuclear program can elevate its international clout

True, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has consistently denied it seeks anything more than nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's repeated claims in public forums that "We do not have nuclear weapons, and we do not intend to produce them," have failed to convince the United States, European Union and Israel.

Suspicion is well-warranted. Iran reluctantly disclosed to the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA only after U.S.-led detection its clandestine enrichment of uranium at an underground facility near Qum, testing of bridge wires to explode the detonators of atom bombs at the Parchin military facility near Tehran, and development of an advanced multipoint trigger system for nuclear warheads. Even the IAEA director noted on March 2 that the agency still could not "provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran and therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities."

As a result, the chief ayatollah's words seem more intended for defusing the international storm rather than changing domestic policy. Moreover, Khamenei has made it amply clear to Iran's citizens in the text of an infographic on his website, also reproduced by the state-controlled news media, that "Iran must not cease or slow down" but should "continue nuclear research, expansion, and progress."

He has threatened as well, repeatedly, that Iran will unleash a "crushing response" against any nation with which it clashes, making his stated intent to continue nuclear activities more ominous.

However, economically strapped and internationally isolated, Iran's citizens are putting pronounced pressure on President Hassan Rouhani and Khamenei. A November 2014 Gallup Poll indicates 70% of Iranians hope their leaders will accept an agreement. They expect the country's economy will jump-start through reduction or elimination of sanctions.

So Iranian politicians and clerics, even those on the National Security and Foreign Policy Parliamentary Committee, have gradually begun acknowledging that sooner or later "some sort of a result [i.e., nuclear deal]" will have to be accepted by Tehran.

Ordinary Iranians' desire to reach a pact with the West is understandable. Iran's economy ranks only 32nd in the world, according to data from the World Bank, despite its vast energy resources and well-educated public. Consequently its people's prosperity has fallen to a lowly 107th among the world's societies, according to the Legatum Institute.

Plunging oil prices have recently added to domestic woes, with that country facing deeper deficit in revenues much needed for development projects. Iranian leaders realize their regime remains vulnerable not only to externally imposed sanctions, but more so to internally generated widespread discontent, which erupted and was violently repressed in 2009.

Regime preservation has multiple facets, however. It's not just about keeping citizens fiscally happy. Nuclear weapons work well in deterring external adversaries. Processing such technology generates much pride at home, too. Fifty-six percent of Iranians responded favorably to its continued development when polled in January. Consequently there will be countervailing internal pressure on Iran's leaders to withstand fully meeting obligations under the Nonproliferation Treaty, irrespective of whether a deal is reached, even if the socioeconomic cost to their citizens and fever-pitch global consternation continue to rise.

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