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Kerry: No deal yet in nuclear talks with Iran

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 8, 2013 2:53PM GMT

US Secretary of State John Kerry who has arrived in Geneva for talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, says no agreement has yet been reached over Iran's nuclear energy program.

"I want to emphasize there is not an agreement at this point," Kerry told reporters shortly after he arrived in Geneva.

At the invitation of Ashton on Friday, Kerry headed to Geneva where talks are underway between Iran and the US, Britain, Russia, China, France, and Germany over Tehran's nuclear energy program.

Kerry has said important issues remain unresolved and some important gaps "have to be closed."

Nuclear talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany in Geneva started on Thursday.

Zarif is set to hold a trilateral meeting with Ashton and Kerry later Friday evening. Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, has said that negotiations have reached a very critical moment but it is still early to predict if the two sides could reach a deal on Friday.

A possible deal between the two sides has infuriated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has called it "a very, very bad deal." Netanyahu made his remarks after Kerry headed to Geneva.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the US Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota), has abandoned claims he made earlier on Thursday that US lawmakers would soon start considering new anti-Iran sanctions.

Johnson has announced in a statement that he is currently waiting to see if any progress would be made in the Geneva talks with Iran. He says any new measure on Iran needs to be taken once the results of the negotiations come to light.

"I plan to wait to hear any results of those talks from our negotiators before making a final decision," Johnson said in a statement on Thursday.

The statement follows Johnson's remarks in an interview with Reuters earlier in the day when he said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had asked him to go ahead with the consideration of a new round of sanctions against Iran.

The Obama administration has also offered to ease the sanctions against Iran. Prior to the ongoing nuclear talks in Geneva, a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington was ready to propose a "phased approach" that would reportedly include "limited sanctions relief.'

The US, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran categorically rejects the allegation, arguing that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), its people's rights to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, must be respected.

ISH/ISH