DHAKA: Negotiators in Vienna, Austria, are set to make a final push to try to reach a deal on Iran's nuclear programme ahead of a 23:00 GMT deadline.

They said earlier ‘serious gaps’ remained, suggesting that an extension could be agreed instead, reports the BBC.

World powers - the US, UK, Russia, China, France plus Germany - want Iran to curb its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of UN sanctions.

Tehran says it is not seeking nuclear weapons, but wants atomic energy.

‘At the moment, we are focused on the last push... big push tomorrow morning (Monday) to try and get this across the line,’ British foreign secretary Philip Hammond said.

‘Of course, if we're not able to do that, we will then look at where we're going from there.’

A senior US state department official told reporters, ‘Our focus remains on taking steps forward toward an agreement, but it is only natural that just over 24 hours from the deadline we are discussing a range of options... an extension is one of those options’.

The delegates could also set out a framework of a deal that would be finalised later.

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said that ‘if the West does not make excessive demands, an agreement is within reach’, according to Iran’s Resalat newspaper.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi was expected to arrive in Vienna early on Monday, meaning the foreign ministers of all of the so-called P5+1 group would be in attendance.

BDST: 1248 HRS, NOV 24, 2014