A six-hour meeting of American, European and Iranian diplomats Wednesday failed to achieve any breakthrough on Iran's nuclear program negotiations, but officials said they have made some progress ahead of the November 24 deadline.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and EU Foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna to resolve the decade-long dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.

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A senior U.S. official, who cannot be named because of the secretive nature of the discussions, described the talk as successful at "chipping away at some difficult issues."

He said that despite making some progress, substantial work still needs to be done. At this point, the negotiations are centered on meeting the late November deadline, the State Department official emphasized.

As difficult challenges continue to beset the negotiations, winning a deal by November seems unlikely, said Robert Einhorn, a former State Department official.

For one, Iran insists on retaining much of its nuclear enrichment capabilities which it says are designed for peaceful energy production, but world powers fear are meant for producing atomic bombs. Iran has more than once threatened to annihilate the State of Israel with its nuclear capabilities, while the West continues to be on its ledger for future attacks.

Iran and the representatives of six world powers-U.S., Germany, France, China , Russia, and Britain-struck a temporary agreement last year to freeze Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for easing some sanctions.

The deal was intended to buy time before a more comprehensive agreement is made.

A final pack slated for the November meeting is meant to secure a win-win deal for all parties. Although as early as now, negotiators like Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are projecting that nuclear accord would not be achieved without extending the November deadline.

TagsIran's nuclear program, Tehran's nuclear program negotiations, Iran