Iran Nuclear Talks Extended Until July 7

Iran has complied with a key condition of ongoing nuclear talks by significantly reducing its stockpile of enriched uranium that could be used for atomic weapons, diplomats said Tuesday. Its failure to do so would have severely undermined the U.S. and other powers trying to clinch a long-term nuclear accord with Tehran over the next several days.

The news came as the State Department announced the extension of an interim nuclear agreement that was set to expire Tuesday night, the original deadline for a final deal. The preliminary measures have been prolonged to July 7 “to allow more time for negotiations to reach a long-term solution … on the Iran nuclear issue,” spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

Uranium can be used to generate energy, or as the fissile core of a nuclear weapon, depending on its enrichment level. Under a preliminary deal reached in November 2013, Iran agreed to cap its stockpile of lower-enriched uranium at a little more than 7.6 tons and transform any remainder into a form that experts say would be difficult to reconvert for arms use.