US Expects 'Difficult' Iran Talks, Sees No Quick Breakthrough

The United States expects indirect talks with Iran that begin Tuesday about both sides resuming compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to be difficult and does not foresee any early breakthrough.  

"We don't underestimate the scale of the challenges ahead," U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said Monday.   "These are early days. We don't anticipate an early or immediate breakthrough as these discussions, we fully expect, will be difficult," he told reporters.   U.S. and Iranian officials are scheduled to begin indirect talks in Vienna, with European officials expected to act as intermediaries, to try to revive the 2015 pact under which economic sanctions on Iran were eased in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program to make it harder to develop a nuclear weapon. Tehran denies seeking to develop such weapons.