Backgrounder: Highlights of Iran nuclear talks over last decade

As the Iran nuclear talks resume in Lausanne, Switzerland to meet the March 31 deadline for a framework understanding, here are the main highlights of the decade-long dispute.

After a 2005 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report found Iran in breach of the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, Iran's nuclear program was taken to the UN Security Council.

At the beginning of 2006, IAEA inspectors reported that Iran had started to remove IAEA seals on enrichment-related material and equipment at its Natanz plant. That same year, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated that "a nuclear program is our irrefutable right."

Following Iran's refusal to comply with the UN Security Council's resolution demanding the suspension of enrichment and reprocessing activities, resolution 1737 was adopted. International sanctions included certain export bans to Iran, as well as prohibiting any technical nuclear-related cooperation.

Further sanctions, including transit restrictions on individuals affiliated to the nuclear program and imposed vigilance when entering new trade commitments with Iran, were defined by the Security Council's adoption of Resolution 1803 in March 2008.

Following Iran's first satellite launch in 2009, and an IAEA confirmation that production of less than 20 percent enriched uranium was being foreseen at the Natanz plant, 2010 saw further sanctions being implemented, including an arms embargo on weapon systems supply and ballistic missile restrictions.

In 2011, Iran's first nuclear power plant in Bushehr supplied power to the national grid. The United States and the EU imposed further sanctions after a 2011 IAEA report voiced concerns regarding Iran's failure to halt its nuclear program.

In June 2012, both Russia and China issued a joint statement expressing their stance against the imposition of unilateral sanctions and the use or threat of military force against Iran.

A year later, Hassan Rouhani was elected as president of Iran. June 2013 saw representatives of the P5+1, namely the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain plus Germany, return to the negotiation table with their Iranian counterparts.

Talks took place in Geneva and on Nov. 24, 2013, the P5+1 and Iran reached a first-step agreement on Iran's nuclear program. The Geneva 2013 Joint Plan of Action demanded Iran suspend some sensitive nuclear activities in exchange for limited sanction relief to buy time for diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue.

Since then, the P5+1 and Iran have twice missed self-imposed deadlines for a final and comprehensive accord in June and November last year. Negotiators then set March 31, 2015 as a new deadline for a political framework agreement and June 30 for the final deal.

Since the beginning of 2015, the United States and the five other major countries have been negotiating with Iran almost nonstop, round after round and meeting after meeting, in an effort to put Iran's nuclear program under international control in return for the easing of sanctions.

On Thursday, after a five-day interval, talks between Iran and the world's major countries resumed in a final effort to meet the March 31 deadline for a framework understanding. Endit