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US and Iran Speak 'Same Language' in Nuclear Talks

Western diplomats have said that the latest round of talks on Iran's nuclear program, the first since the election of Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, have been the most substantive and given hope that an agreement could eventually be possible.

Delegations from Iran and other world powers sit before the start of two days of closed-door nuclear talks at the United Nations offices in Geneva October 15, 2013. Iran will face pressure on Tuesday to propose scaling back its nuclear programme to win relief from crippling sanctions as talks between world powers and Tehran resume after a six-month hiatus. REUTERS/Fabrice Coffrini/Pool (SWITZERLAND - Tags: ENERGY POLITICS) - RTX14BO2
Delegations from Iran and other world powers sit before the start of two days of closed-door nuclear talks at the United Nations offices in Geneva, Oct. 15, 2013. — REUTERS/Fabrice Coffrini/Pool

Geneva__ Western and Iranian diplomats hailed a new pace, candor and mutual will to try to forge a process to resolve international concerns about Iran's nuclear program, but acknowledged they were at the beginning of a still complex and difficult negotiation whose success is not guaranteed.

"The good news, we are getting to a place where one can imagine we could possibly have a process that could lead to an agreement," a senior US administration official, speaking not for attribution, told journalists Wednesday at the end of two days of nuclear negotiations here, the first since the June election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

"I have never had such intense, detailed, straight-forward, candid conversations with the Iran delegation before," the American official said. "The discussions took place in English...the pace of discussions was much better. It creates the ability to have a back and forth."

"There are [still] serious differences." the US official said. We "got more today than we have ever gotten before, but there's still a whole lot more we have to get."

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