Voice Of Post

Iran nuclear talks preliminary agreement, Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program appeared to take a sour turn Wednesday after pushing on past a key deadline, but Secretary of State John F. Kerry decided to stay in Switzerland an extra day in search of a breakthrough.

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said that progress had been made and that Kerry would remain “until at least Thursday morning.” But the short period appeared to reflect the difficulties in the talks between six world powers and Iran over a preliminary agreement on restricting the Islamic republic’s ability to use its civilian nuclear technology to build atomic weapons.

“We continue to make progress but have not reached a political understanding,” Harf told reporters.The talks with Iran appeared to be on ever-more-shaky ground as the day elapsed. The White House said Iran had not made commitments about its nuclear program in Wednesday’s sessions, and Iran’s foreign minister described negotiations with the West as “always problematic.”

Though the talks continued, Germany’s foreign minister said it was possible they could collapse.