Iran accused western powers for changing positions

Vienna

Iran lashed out at Western powers accusing them of changing positions at the 11th hour in intense nuclear talks, as the EU warned it was time Friday to say "yes or no" to a deal on the table.

With a 13-year international standoff over Iran's suspect nuclear programme coming to a head, global powers leading the negotiations sought to ramp up the pressure for a deal. But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hit back, saying Western countries among the so-called P5+1 group on the other side of the talks were back-tracking on previous commitments.

"Unfortunately we have seen changes in the position and excessive demands... by several countries," said Zarif after praying late at night in a mosque in Vienna.

The emerging deal between Iran and the P5+1 group  Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States  is aimed at preventing Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb in exchange for relief from a web of biting international sanctions. Each of the nations in the group "have different positions which makes the task even harder," Zarif told the Iranian television Al-Alam.

As this round of talks lurched into a 14th day in the Austrian capital, US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted he would not be rushed into a deal  but warned he would not stay at the negotiating table forever. If the "tough decisions" were not made soon, the top US diplomat said he was prepared to walk away.

Talks to alleviate international concerns about Iran's nuclear programme  first revealed by dissidents in 2002  resumed in earnest in September 2013 after the election of moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. After two tortuous years of negotiations between Kerry and Zarif, there is hope that a climax may be merely hours away.

"The text is done. It's already there. It's a matter of yes or no," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said. "We are very close, but if the important, historical decisions are not made in the next hours we won't have an agreement."