P5+1, Iran Negotiators Take Short Break After Night-Long Talks

LAUSANNE (Sputnik) – The ongoing talks on the Iran nuclear issue in the Swiss city of Lausanne have been halted for a few hours, a US State Department spokesperson informs.

"Negotiations just broke. Will resume again in a few hours," Deputy Spokesperson for the US State Department Marie Harf wrote on her Twitter page early on Thursday.

"That was truly an all-nighter," Harf said in a separate post, explaining that it was 6 a. m. in Lausanne.

The Lausanne round of negotiations started on March 19. Iran and the P5+1 group of international mediators, which includes Russia, the United States, France, China, the United Kingdom and Germany, were supposed to reach a political framework agreement on Tuesday, however, the talks continued into Wednesday.

The deadline for a final comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear program has been set for July 1, 2015.

Tehran wants Western sanctions imposed against Iran over its nuclear activities to be fully lifted as part of the deal with the P5+1. The West, which fears that Iran is developing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian program, wants Tehran to halt its uranium enrichment program and decrease the number of centrifuges in the country.