Kerry says difficult issues still to be resolved for an Iran deal

A nuclear deal with Iran is “very close” after nearly two years of negotiations, the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said. In many ways, this negotiation has been going on for literally a number of years.

Zarif said on Friday in a video on YouTube that despite some remaining differences, Iran and its counterparts “have never been closer to a lasting outcome”.

“If there is a need that we stay in Vienna for a few more days, it would be better for us to stay here than go back to our country and return later (to resume the talks)”.

BRIDGET BRENNAN: If there’s no compromise, John Kerry says the U.S. won’t hesitate to walk away from making any agreement.

Iranian officials have been clear though that there is no hard deadline in the talks.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke of “sharper” deal contours. “That’s our goal, and we’re gonna put every bit of pressure possible on it to try to do so”, he said.

The nuclear deal with Iran facing a deadline on Tuesday will ensure the country’s nuclear activities can continue, Iranian media reported.

The Obama administration is contending with criticism from skeptical Republicans and the Israeli government, which has fiercely campaigned against a potential deal. Any deal struck in Vienna won’t be final until it’s passed through US and Iranian legislatures, he said.

Kirby said some of the remaining sticking points include access to nuclear sites as well as addressing any past military dimension of Iran’s nuclear program.

Reaching a deal would be the most important milestone in decades towards alleviating hostility between the United States and Iran, enemies since Iranian revolutionaries captured 52 hostages in the USA embassy in Tehran in 1979.

“It’s not what anybody wants”.

He added that the United States only wants a good agreement and is willing to walk away without a deal. “This is something that the world will analyze, experts everywhere will look at”, he said. “There are plenty of people in the nonproliferation community, nuclear experts, who will look at this”, he continued, “and none of us are going to be content to do something that can’t pass scrutiny”.

“The fact that the Obama administration is so loathe to give Congress an extra 30 days to review what will be the most consequential national security agreement of the post-Cold War era is remarkable”, Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Business Insider. Bob Corker, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said he had spoken to Kerry Saturday and voiced his concerns about rushing too quickly toward a settlement.

A senior USA official did not dispute the diplomats’ account but said work remained to be done on “Annex II” before the issue could be described as finalized.

“I just don’t think there’s any real likelihood that this collapses”.

“We’ve gone from dismantling their program to managing proliferation”, Corker said on Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program.

The USA and Iran hold the key to a nuclear accord between world powers and the Persian Gulf nation, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, 36 hours before the latest deadline is set to expire.