No agreement at Iran nuclear talks

Talks between world powers and Iran on its nuclear programme have ended without agreement, with the EU saying their positions "remain far apart," the BBC reported. Over two days of talks in Almaty, Iran was asked to give up work on its most sensitive nuclear activities in return for an easing of sanctions. Iran said it was up to the world powers to demonstrate willingness to take confidence-building steps. World powers suspect Iran of a covert nuclear weapons programme. Tehran, which insists its intentions are peaceful, is negotiating with the so-called P5+1 group comprising the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, Russia, China, the UK and France - plus Germany. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton confirmed no deal was reached. "It became clear that the positions... remain far apart on the substance," she told reporters on Saturday. "We have therefore agreed that all sides will go back to [their] capitals to evaluate where we stand in the process," she added. "I think the first hurdle is take the proposal that we put on the table and get a real response to all of it... The challenge is to get real engagement so that we can move forward with this."