World powers and Iran remained far apart after ending two days of intensive talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme yesterday, the EU’s foreign policy chief said, prolonging a stand-off that risks spiralling into a new Middle East war.

Our positions remain far apart

The failure to reach a breakthrough deal aimed at easing growing international concern over Iran’s contested nuclear activity marked a further setback for diplomatic efforts to resolve the decade-old dispute peacefully.

Underlining the lack of substantial progress during the meeting in the Kazakh city of Almaty, no new negotiations between the two sides appeared to have been scheduled.

“Over two days of talks, we had long and intensive discussions on the issues addressed in our confidence-building proposal,” EU Foreign Policy chief Catherine Ashton said.

“It became clear that our positions remain far apart,” Ashton, who represents the six powers – the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany – said in dealings with Iran.

Russia’s negotiator sounded more upbeat, saying the talks were “definitely a step forward” although no compromise had been reached, Interfax news agency reported, without giving details.

Iran’s critics accuse it of covertly seeking the means to produce nuclear bombs and say Tehran in the past has used diplomacy as a stalling tactic.

Further inconclusive talks will not reassure Israel, which threatens air strikes, if necessary, to stop its arch-enemy from getting the bomb.

Iran says its nuclear energy programme is entirely peaceful but UN inspectors suspect it has worked illicitly on designing a nuclear weapon.

With all sides aware that a breakdown in diplomacy could shunt the protracted stalemate a step closer to war, no one in Almaty was talking about abandoning diplomatic efforts.