Little progress made in talks over Iran's nuclear program Informal setting: Catherine Ashton and Mohammad Javad Zarif meet in Geneva. Geneva: Iran and the US have set out starkly differing positions as "intensive" talks in Geneva over Tehran's nuclear program appear to have made little headway. Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs, Catherine Ashton, held meetings on Thursday, which were described by a spokesman as "detailed" and "intensive." On the table is the draft agreement left from the last meeting 11 days ago. The aim is to conclude an interim deal that would freeze Iran's nuclear program in return for a limited easing of sanctions, creating the time for a final settlement to be negotiated. A diplomat close to the talks said the negotiators were going through the text "line by line and issue by issue." Baroness Ashton and Mr Zarif abandoned the formal setting of the Palais des Nations in Geneva, meeting instead in a conference room of the Intercontinental Hotel, where the delegations are staying. US Secretary of State John Kerry joined the last talks in Geneva, closely followed by British Foreign Secretary William Hague and their counterparts from France, Germany and Russia. The chances of Mr Kerry and the other ministers returning are seen as high, but the rift between the parties is clear. In a potentially worrisome sign for the Obama administration, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Thursday that he would support consideration of new sanctions legislation in the Senate beginning early next month. The administration has urged legislators to at least temporarily withhold new economic penalties on Iran while the talks continue, for fear they could drive Tehran from the negotiating table or break apart the coalition of countries co-operating on sanctions. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said any agreement would have to include Iran's "right" to enrich uranium "from its beginning to its end." Whether Iran has a "right" to enrich is the central issue. Western diplomats are reluctant to concede this point at the start of any deal. Mr Araqchi also said the toughest sanctions, which restrict Iran's ability to sell oil and conduct financial transactions, would be lifted under any agreement. "Definitely, [removing] oil and banking sanctions will be part of the other side's measures within the first step," he said. But Jen Psaki, of the US State Department, said the opposite, stressing that "core sanctions," covering oil and finance, would "not be impacted." Telegraph, London; MCT