Iran and major powers will meet next week, sources say

Major powers appear to have agreed to meet with Iran on its nuclear program next week in Geneva, sources said.

"An agreement looks to have been reached on Geneva, talks starting Monday into Tuesday," said a source knowledgeable about the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The two sides have spent months negotiating their first meeting in more than a year. The European Union and its partners, inclding the United States, had pressed for three days of talks while Iranians wanted to meet for a single day in Istanbul. The compromise appears to have been two days in Geneva.

The most recent round of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran, which by all accounts has been more crippling than anticipated, was intended to force Tehran to begin negotiating seriously about its nuclear program. But Iranian officials, insisting that the program is for peaceful energy purposes, have given little indication they are interested in negotiating.

US officials say Iran's problems with its uranium enrichment program this year have greatly reduced concerns that Iran is on the brink of producing a nuclear weapon, offering extra time to strike a deal.