US Secertary of State Kerry, says no deal yet in Iran nuclear talks while Iran looks to end game

Kerry says no deal yet in Iran nuclear talks
8 November, 2013 – Al Akhbarhttp://www.crookedbough.com/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=wp-to-twitter/wp-to-twitter.php

World powers and Iran have yet to reach a deal on Iran’s nuclear program but are working hard to do so, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday.

“There is not an agreement at this point,” Kerry said shortly after arriving in Geneva Friday to help seal what is hoped to be a landmark with Tehran, but stressed that the six world powers leading the talks were “working hard.”

“I don’t think anybody should mistake that there are some important gaps that have to be closed,” he added.

Meanwhile, the UN nuclear agency said that its chief Yukiya Amano will hold talks with senior Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday with the aim of “strengthening dialogue and cooperation.”

His decision to accept an Iranian invitation to visit may be a sign of progress in long-stalled efforts by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to investigate the Islamic state’s disputed atomic activities.

Kerry met with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday before heading to Geneva for landmark three-way talks with Iran and the EU.

The Israeli prime minister denounced the possible deal as a “historic mistake.”

In an effort to help narrow the differences in negotiations, “Secretary Kerry will travel to Geneva, Switzerland today at the invitation of EU High Representative [Catherine] Ashton to hold a trilateral meeting with High Representative Ashton and [Iranian] Foreign Minister [Mohammed] Zarif on the margins of the P5+1 negotiations,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement early on Friday.

A senior State Department official said that since the first round of talks with Iranian President Hassan Rohani’s administration last month, “Kerry has been open to the possibility of traveling to Geneva for this round of negotiations if it would help narrow differences.”

The official added that Ashton had asked Kerry to attend the Geneva talks help bridge the gaps,

“As we’ve said, this is a complex process. And as a member of the P5+1, he is committed to doing anything he can to help,” the official added.

The US clarified that Kerry’s arrival in Geneva is not indicative of a sealed deal with Iran after years of foot-dragging and suspicion.

Western governments and Israel suspect Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability under cover of its civilian program. Tehran denies any such ambition and, since Rohani took office in August, has made overtures suggesting it is prepared to scale back its enrichment of uranium in return for the easing of crippling Western sanctions.

World powers and Iran are working intensively to advance talks in Geneva over Iran’s disputed nuclear program, a spokesman for Ashton said on Friday. …more