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US Secretary of State John Kerry
Photo: AP

Iran FM Zarif: Nuclear deal could be close, details remain

'We are prepared to work round the clock in order to reach an agreement,' Zarif says after day of nuclear talks, rejects Netanyahu's 'fear-mongering'.

Iran's foreign minister said in a US television interview on Wednesday he believed "we are very close" to a nuclear arms deal with Western powers, but cautioned there were details that needed to be worked out. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Saudi Arabia Wednesday to ease Gulf Arab concerns about an emerging deal.

 

 

"We are prepared to work round the clock in order to reach an agreement," Mohammad Javad Zarif told NBC News in an interview excerpt released by the network.

Photo: AP (Photo: AP)
Photo: AP

 

"We believe that we are very close, very close and we could be very far," he said." There are details that need to be worked out."

 

"We are very close if the political decision can be made to get to yes, as President Obama said," Zarif added.

 

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Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry were in a second day of talks in Switzerland on curbing Iran's nuclear program with the aim of securing a framework agreement by the end of March.

 

The United States and some of its allies, notably Israel, suspect Iran of using its civil nuclear program as a cover to develop a nuclear weapons capability.

 

In a speech to the US Congress on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the deal being negotiated was a serious mistake.

 

Zarif, who has accused Netanyahu of trying to undermine Iran's negotiations toward a nuclear deal, repeated in the NBC interview that Tehran had no intention of building a nuclear weapon.

 

"Once we reach that understanding, once this hysteria is out, once this fear-mongering is out, then we can have a deal, and a deal that is not going to hurt anybody," he said.

 

Kerry responds to Israel, talks to Saudis

Kerry said Washington was well aware of the potential nuclear danger Iran poses to countries in the region and will endorse only an agreement that seriously and verifiably crimps Tehran's ability to make atomic arms.

 

"We continue to be focused on reaching a good deal, the right deal, that closes off any paths that Iran could have towards fissile material for a weapon and that protects the world from the enormous threat that we all know a nuclear-armed Iran would pose," Kerry told reporters at the end of meetings with Zarif.

 

Fresh from the latest round of Iran nuclear negotiations, Kerry arrived in Saudi Arabia Wednesday to ease Gulf Arab concerns about an emerging deal and discuss ways to calm instability in troubled Yemen and other Mideast nations.

 

Kerry left the Iran talks in the Swiss resort town of Montreux and flew to Riyadh, where he will see the new Saudi monarch, King Salman, and meet separately with the foreign ministers of the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Sunni-ruled Gulf states, like Israel, are unnerved by Shiite Iran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons and its increasing assertiveness throughout the region.

 

US officials say Kerry will reassure them that a deal with Tehran will not allow Iran to get the bomb and won't mean American complacency on broader security matters. Iran is actively supporting forces fighting in Syria and Iraq and is linked to Shiite rebels who recently toppled the US and Arab-backed government in Yemen.

 

One senior official said that no matter what happens with the Iranian nuclear talks, the U.S. would continue to confront "Iranian expansion" and "aggressiveness" in the region and work closely with the Gulf states on mutual security arrangements and boosting their defense capabilities. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about Kerry's visit to Riyadh and spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity

 

 Reuters and AP contributed to this report

 


פרסום ראשון: 03.05.15, 00:40
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