VIENNA: Iran and world powers agreed on Thursday a timetable and framework for the ambitious and arduous process of hammering out a lasting nuclear accord by July 20 that satisfies all sides.

Such a deal, if reached, should resolve the decade-old standoff over Iran’s nuclear drive, silence talk of war for good and help normalise Tehran’s strained international relations.

After chairing “very productive” days of talks in Vienna, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said experts would meet early next month before political directors return to Vienna on March 17.

“There is a lot to do, it won’t be easy but we have made a good start,” Ashton told reporters, saying negotiators had “identified all the issues we need to address”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on his Facebook page that the parties “also agreed to hold several meeting on a monthly basis until late May”.

He told Iranian media that the atmosphere in the Austrian capital was “very serious” and “even a little bit more positive than anyone predicted”, but however there is a “difficult way ahead of us”.

A senior US administration official said the discussions were “very workmanlike” and “substantive, covering all the issues that need to be on the table... We are long past speeches of ideology”.

“We have begun to see some areas of agreement, as well as areas where we will have to work through very difficult issues,” the official said, adding there was “extraordinary” unity among the six powers.

Iran and the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany aim to transform a landmark but only interim deal struck in Geneva in November into a long-term agreement.

Diplomats said they aimed to nail down the final accord by the time a six-month freeze of certain activities agreed in Geneva expires on July 20, although this period can be extended.

The holy grail is for Iran to retain its civilian nuclear programme, but likely on a reduced scale and with enhanced oversight to ensure a dash for nuclear weapons is all but impossible.

This could involve closing the underground Fordo facility, slashing the number of uranium centrifuges, cutting fissile material stockpiles, altering a new reactor being built at Arak and tougher UN inspections.

In exchange, all UN Security Council, US and EU sanctions on Iran — which are costing it billions of dollars every week in lost oil revenues, wreaking havoc on its economy — would be lifted.—AFP