Negotiations on Iran's nuclear deal have moved forward but there is still much to be done before a deal can be finalized in time for the late November target, a U.S. State Department official said Wednesday.

The remarks came after a six-hour-long closed door meeting in Vienna on Wednesday. The meeting was attended by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, European Union foreign affairs head Catherine Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

Like Us on Facebook

Iran and the P5+1 have been hammering out pertinent details on the issue. Everybody has given their inputs to keep the ball moving forward, the senior official said, who spoke under condition of anonymity.

The goal is to arrive at a two-fold negotiated solution that all parties can agree on.

The agreement must address the global concerns over the risks posed by Iran's nuclear program while at the same time easing the sanctions in Tehran that would provide its citizens with greater economic opportunities and end the country's isolation, the State Department official explained.

But while there has been some progress, it is slow-moving.

There is still a significant amount of work to be done, the U.S. official said.

An important detail in the nuclear negotiations include the West's intent to place a cap on Iran's enriched uranium, a condition that Iran has repeatedly rejected, according to Reuters.

Western governments have sought to reduce Tehran's uranium capacity to the low thousands to safeguard against the availability of ready resources to manufacture atomic weapons. To date, Iran has an installed uranium centrifuge of 19,000, half of which are already operational.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said that instead of focusing on enriched uranium, the West should pool their efforts to close on a deal.

Moscow and Tehran have signaled that the remaining weeks left before the Nov. 24 deadline may not be enough time to reach a deal on the issue but the U.S. has said an extension has not been considered.

The pressure to reach a deal by late November helps the negotiation process because it keeps the pressure going, the State Department official said.

TagsIran nuclear program, Iran sanctions, P5+1