Nations fail to reach Iran nuclear deal

GENEVA - Talks on curbing Iran's nuclear program ended with no deal early Sunday after France objected that proposed measures didn't go far enough, but U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said "significant progress" had been made on the differences that remain.

Six world powers and Iran agreed to resume talks Nov. 20.

Both sides badly wanted agreement. The United States and its five partners were looking for initial caps on Iran's ability to make an atomic bomb, while Tehran sought easing of sanctions stifling its economy.

But France would not soften its concerns over the level of Iran's uranium-enrichment program.

Kerry, speaking to reporters after the talks broke up, acknowledged there were "certain issues that we needed to work through." He said, "We're grateful to the French for the work we did together."

As the talks foundered after initial signs of progress, Kerry rushed to Geneva on Friday, followed by counterparts from Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany, for a last-ditch effort to push through an agreement.

That failed, with disputes between the two sides complicated by rare open dissent within the six powers. France rejected a joint list of demands on Iran, saying they were too generous to result in sanctions relief.

After the talks ended, top EU diplomat Catherine Ashton spoke of "a lot of concrete progress" but also of "some differences."

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he hoped those disagreements will be resolved at a future meeting.

The two said the talks would resume Nov. 20 with Ashton and Zarif in attendance, but the other delegations will be led by senior civil servants instead of foreign ministers.

Prospects for an agreement dimmed after French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius raised objections to a draft that the French had previously agreed to. Fabius spoke of "several points that ... we're not satisfied with compared to the initial text," telling France-Inter Radio his nation does not want to be part of a "con game."

He did not elaborate, but it appeared France wanted tougher constraints on a reactor that will make plutonium when completed, and on parts of Iran's uranium-enrichment program.

Although Kerry publicly played down the differences with Fabius, other diplomats at the talks said the last-minute objections came as a surprise and complicated the chances of agreement. They demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the closed negotiations.

Iran's Arak reactor southeast of Tehran could produce enough plutonium for several nuclear weapons a year once it goes online, which is expected to happen next year. Fabius said France was seeking a freeze on construction during negotiations. He also spoke of disagreement over efforts to limit Iran's uranium enrichment to levels that would require substantial further enriching before they could be used as the fissile core of a nuclear weapon.

Iran insists it is pursuing only nuclear energy, medical treatments and research, but the U.S. and its allies fear that Iran could turn this material into the fissile core of nuclear warheads. Tehran has said it is ready for concessions if sanctions are lifted.

Iran runs more than 10,000 centrifuges that have created tons of fuel-grade material that can be enriched to arm nuclear warheads. It also has nearly 440 pounds of higher-enriched uranium that can be more quickly weaponized.