Islamic Republic of Iran

The US hunkered down Tuesday with Iran for crunch talks while warning that key disagreements remain ahead of a March 31 deadline to agree the outlines of a major nuclear deal.
      
"There is no way around it, we still have a ways to go," a senior US official involved in the talks in the Swiss lakeside city of Lausanne said Tuesday.
      

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has asked Iran to end its ban on women watching football matches, describing the situation as intolerable.

"When I travelled to Iran in November 2013, I was not only confronted with huge popular enthusiasm from football but also a law forbidding women from attending football matches," he wrote in FIFA's weekly magazine.

Iran's foreign minister on March 5 suggested that a 10-year moratorium on some aspects of the country's nuclear program might be acceptable to Tehran, though he declined to discuss the issue in detail.
   

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday briefed wary Gulf ministers about his latest nuclear talks with Iran as Washington and its regional allies seek to stabilise a troubled Middle East.

The US and Iran wrapped up three days of intense nuclear negotiations Wednesday, but American officials said "tough challenges" remained as a March 31 deadline for a framework deal looms.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart on March 4 resumed talks on a nuclear deal, ignoring an impassioned plea from the Israeli prime minister to ditch the process.
      

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's acceptance of an invitation to address the US Congress, without the blessing of the White House, is destructive to US-Israeli ties, a senior official said on Feb. 24.
      

The United States and Iran said Feb. 23 they had made progress in the latest round of talks on Tehran's nuclear programme, but warned there was still a long way to go to seal a final deal.
      
Negotiators for Iran and six world powers had been meeting in Geneva since Friday, and plan further talks in Switzerland next week, a senior US administration official said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry was set to arrive in Geneva Feb. 22 for renewed talks with his Iranian counterpart on Tehran's nuclear programme, after warning "significant gaps" remain ahead of a key deadline.
      

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Feb. 8 appeared to rule out any new extension to tough negotiations with world powers over his country's suspect nuclear programme, as he met top US diplomat John Kerry for new talks.