April 22, 2015 - 14:40 AMT
Iran nuke talks enter final phase ahead of deadline

Negotiators are meeting in Vienna in attempts to reach a deal that curbs Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, the Associated Press reports.

U.S. Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and EU official Helga Schmid began talks Wednesday, April 22, in a luxury downtown Vienna hotel.

The talks are fine-tuning a framework agreement reached earlier this month. Iran denies any interest in nuclear arms but has agreed to reduce the capacity of programs that could be used to make such weapons. It wants sanctions ended in exchange.

Complicated details on timing and monitoring remain to be ironed out by the June 30 deadline. The foreign ministers of Iran, the United States and five other countries at the table are expected to join in the talks at a later stage.