Crunch talks between Iran and world powers stretched into an unscheduled third day Saturday as top diplomats pushed for a deal to end the decade-old stand-off over Iran's nuclear program.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was on his way to join the talks in Geneva, where the US, British, French and German foreign ministers rushed on Friday hoping to seal a breakthrough.
The hoped-for agreement - seen as a first step ahead of further talks on a final deal - could see Tehran freeze its nuclear efforts for as long as six months in exchange for some relief from the sanctions that have battered its economy.
Russian news agency Interfax quoted sources saying Lavrov was hoping for a meeting of all the foreign ministers gathered in Geneva once he arrived.
Western officials, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, have expressed caution at the talks.
"There are still some very important issues on the table that are unresolved," Kerry said.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said early Saturday that there were "some points on which we are not satisfied".
"There is an initial draft that we do not accept... I have no certainty that we can finish up" at this stage, Fabius told France Inter radio.
If an agreement is reached, it would be a breakthrough after a decade of negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group comprising the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.
Reports say the proposed deal could see Tehran stop enriching uranium to 20 per cent - which is a few technical steps from weapons grade - reduce existing stockpiles and agree not to activate its plutonium reactor at Arak.
Global powers would in exchange take limited measures to ease sanctions, such as unfreezing some Iranian funds in foreign accounts.
Negotiators would then have time to work out a more comprehensive deal that Tehran said it hoped could be in place within a year.
The possible deal already came fire under from Israel, which has staunchly opposed any easing of sanctions against Iran.
"Iran got the deal of the century and the international community got a bad deal, this is a very bad deal. Israel utterly rejects it," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters.
Iran has repeatedly denied its nuclear program is for anything other than generating electricity and for medical purposes.
But the world powers in the talks - which include the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, which has issued multiple resolutions against Iran's uranium enrichment - suspect Tehran's program was aimed at developing nuclear weapons.
The head of the UN atomic watchdog, Yukiya Amano, will travel to Tehran on Monday to discuss "technical issues" related to monitoring of Iran's nuclear program, the agency said in a statement.
Iran is anxious for relief from crippling US and EU economic sanctions that have cut oil revenues by more than half, caused the value of the rial to plunge and pushed inflation above 40 per cent.
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