West Sees Significant Gaps With Iran on Nuclear Deal

WSJ—Efforts to open the way to a final nuclear deal between Iran and world powers appeared to fall short after a day of intensive talks between the Iranian foreign minister and his U.S. and European counterparts.

With a week left to a deadline for reaching a comprehensive deal, significant gaps remained, European foreign ministers said Sunday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met U.S. and European foreign ministers in Vienna.

After the talks, European foreign ministers said while the discussions had been useful, Tehran must now choose whether it would take the steps needed for a deal.

"I think it has been good to have these meetings at ministerial level but there is no change in the state of play in these negotiations as of this moment," said U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Mr. Hague said there is still "a huge gap" in particular between Iran's demands for its future enrichment program and the position of Western governments that Tehran must scale back its activities.

The lack of a breakthrough would seem to significantly raise the odds that a final deal won't be done by July 20. The U.S. has said the talks would be extended beyond that point only if there is real progress to report.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he couldn't predict whether an accord would be reached on time. He said now was the moment for Iran to show that they were ready to take steps to reach a deal.

"It is now up to Iran to decide whether they follow the path toward international cooperation or whether they want to remain in isolation," he said.

Mr. Zarif met late Sunday with Secretary of State John Kerry, who warned on arrival in the Austrian capital of "very significant gaps" between the sides. "Obviously, we have some very significant gaps still. So we need to see if we can make some progress and I really look forward to a very substantive and important set of meetings and dialogues," Mr. Kerry told reporters as he arrived. "It is vital to make certain that Iran is not going to develop a nuclear weapon—that their program is peaceful."

Mr. Hague said there is still "a huge gap" in particular between Iran's demands for its future enrichment program and the position of Western governments that Tehran must scale back its activities.

The lack of a breakthrough would seem to significantly raise the odds that a final deal won't be done by July 20. The U.S. has said the talks would be extended beyond that point only if there is real progress to report.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he couldn't predict whether an accord would be reached on time. He said now was the moment for Iran to show that they were ready to take steps to reach a deal.

"It is now up to Iran to decide whether they follow the path toward international cooperation or whether they want to remain in isolation," he said.

Mr. Zarif met late Sunday with Secretary of State John Kerry, who warned on arrival in the Austrian capital of "very significant gaps" between the sides. "Obviously, we have some very significant gaps still. So we need to see if we can make some progress and I really look forward to a very substantive and important set of meetings and dialogues," Mr. Kerry told reporters as he arrived. "It is vital to make certain that Iran is not going to develop a nuclear weapon—that their program is peaceful."