DHAKA: High-level talks are due to take place in Oman ahead of the 24 November deadline for a comprehensive deal on Iran’s nuclear programme.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is to meet his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU negotiator Catherine Ashton.

They will be trying to find ways of overcoming disagreements on uranium enrichment and sanctions relief.

Iran denies claims by world powers that it is trying to make a nuclear weapon.

It insists its uranium enrichment programme is purely for peaceful purposes.

Sources have told the BBC that the most senior aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - Ali Akbar Velayati - may be joining the talks.

Sunday’s meeting comes a year after Iran and six world powers - the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - agreed an interim deal to limit Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for some relief from Western sanctions.

Iran had promised to further co-operate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) following the election of Iran president Hassan Rouhani last year in return for an easing of the sanctions.

BDST: 1215 HRS, NOV 09, 2014