Time up for Iran as the UN nuclear deadline expires

In Vienna, Iran's chief negotiator, Ali Larijani, played it tough but then talked negotiation. A political game maybe, but which players are bluffing? And who is really pulling the strings?

Iran has stopped paying Russia for the building of a key nuclear plant. Nuclear fuels will now not be delivered.

President Ahmadinejad's government blames "technical problems". He is certainly under pressure, undermined even by Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khameini, who has said Iran's uranium enrichment programme could be cancelled.

For his part, Ahmadinejad says Iran will only stop enriching uranium if America does, an offer which has met with derision from the Bush administration.

The United States maintains Tehran is developing atomic weapons and not a nuclear power project as it has continuously stated. Euronews