"I want to emphasize there is not an agreement at this point," Kerry told reporters shortly after arriving in Geneva. "I don't think anybody should mistake that there are some important gaps that have to be closed." U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry joined fellow big power foreign ministers in Geneva on Friday to help clinch an interim nuclear deal with Iran and ease a decade-old standoff, with Israel warning they were making an epic mistake. Diplomats said a breakthrough at this week's negotiations remained uncertain and would in any case mark only the first step in a long, complex process towards a permanent resolution of Iran's dispute with the West over its nuclear ambitions. But they said the arrival of Kerry, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and French and German foreign ministers Laurent Fabius and Guido Westerwelle was a sign that the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany may be closer to an agreement with Iran than ever before. Kerry was expected to hold a trilateral meeting with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. A senior U.S. State Department official said Kerry was committed to doing "anything he can" to narrow differences with the Islamic Republic. The powers aim to cap Iran's nuclear work to prevent any advance towards a nuclear weapons capability. The top U.S. diplomat arrived from Tel Aviv, where he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who sees Iran's atomic aspirations as a menace to the Jewish state. Netanyahu warned Kerry and his European counterparts that Iran would be getting "the deal of the century" if they carried out proposals to grant Tehran limited, temporary relief from sanctions in exchange for a partial suspension of, and pledge not to expand, its enrichment of uranium for nuclear fuel. Reactions: France's foreign minister said on Friday major questions still remained to be answered during talks on Iran's nuclear programme in Geneva, but work was ongoing to reach an agreement.
"France wants a credible accord on Iran's nuclear programme," Laurent Fabius said in a statement sent to Reuters. "For now, major questions are still not resolved, but we are working in Geneva to do so if possible."
REUTERS