Iran nuclear negotiations could still go either way: Kerry

Kerry is recovering from surgery to fix a broken right femur he suffered during a biking accident. “We are very close”, said Mogherini, adding the atmosphere was “constructive, positive”.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that reaching an agreement is possible this week if Iran makes the “hard choices” necessary, but if not, the United States stands ready to walk away from the negotiations.

Corker spoke with Kerry on Saturday and said he told the secretary of state not to rush into a deal for the sake of legacy.

They are seeking an accord that ends a 13-year-old standoff over Iran’s nuclear program by scaling down its activities in return for relief from painful sanctions.

The Iranian negotiator told reporters that the negotiators have made progress since the most recent phase began in the Austrian capital more than a week ago.

But the top U.S. diplomat said the talks still “could go either way” as he met four times throughout Sunday with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.

“We have made genuine progress”.

The talks had appeared to be moving forward.

“That would be a problem for us”, he said.

Iranian media reported Monday that the delegation is aiming for the talks to end in either an agreement or failure by late Wednesday night or even Thursday morning in Vienna, which is six hours ahead of Washington.

Last Tuesday was the official deadline to reach a long-term deal that would build on the preliminary agreement in Lausanne, but the seven countries have agreed to extend the deadline until 7 July to allow more time for negotiations.

He argued that the deal has broken red lines set by Kerry and President Obama except for the issue of giving inspectors access to Iran’s nuclear facilities any time, anywhere, and learning what its past military capabilities were.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, said in a separate interview that most senators “are reserving judgment” until they see what the final deal says.

The venue for Iran nuclear talks, the Palais Coburg Hotel, Vienna, Austria, July 5, 2015.

Kerry is holding firm on the stance that the Americans are willing to walk away from the talks if they don’t get willingness from the Iranians to move on issues that are important to the USA. It’s not what anybody wants.

“I’m deeply concerned that this administration is simply trying to get a deal at any price….”

“I hope that it is clear to all parties in these final days that this is a unique chance that we have now”, said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier as he arrived back in Vienna. “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”.

A general view shows the reactor building at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran.

USA Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, also warned against rushing for a deal that will be too lenient on Iran.