Kerry sees Iran nuclear deal likely in Geneva

Kerry sees Iran nuclear deal likely in Geneva
Mon Nov 11, 2013 18:21:52

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday defended moves to strike a nuclear deal with Iran.

His comments came as France said world powers were close to an agreement with Iran on its disputed nuclear plan, despite failure to reach a deal at crunch talks in Geneva on the weekend.

Kerry's remarks also come as Israel and the US are locked in an bitter war of words over the negotiations to halt Iran's peaceful nuclear drive.

"Our hope is that in the next months we can find an agreement that meets everyone's standards," Kerry told reporters in Abu Dhabi.

Kerry insisted in Abu Dhabi that President Barack Obama "has stated unequivocally that Iran will not get a nuclear weapon, that is a centerpiece of his foreign policy and he will not bluff."

Referring to suffers adopted by UAE because of Iran over sanctions, Kerry also said that trade between Iran and UAE dropped to four billion dollars from a high of 23 billion due to the sanctions.

The negotiations between Tehran and the P5+1 in Geneva ended early on Sunday less than an hour after the negotiations entered the fourth day of hard work.

Officials from both sides said that differences over the Iranian nuclear energy program have considerably narrowed down.

The US is after a confident agreement which would “help protect Israel more effectively,” Kerry said after the talks.

Prior to Kerry’s visit to Geneva, Israel had expressed anger over the negotiations by calling a possible agreement “a very bad deal”.

After the talks ended, Iranian Foreign Minister - and top nuclear negotiator - Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton issued a joint statement saying: “A lot of concrete progress has been achieved but some differences remain”.

Iran and the P5=1 agreed to hold the next round of talks on November 20 in Geneva again.

NJF/NJF

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