John Kerry: Iran deal not 'out of reach'
Speaking ahead of a trilateral meeting in Vienna, US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed hope for the nuclear deal.
Paris — US Secretary of State John Kerry said Oct. 14 that it would be premature to speculate on whether another extension will be needed to reach an Iran nuclear deal.
“I am glad that all of the pundits and speculators are doubting whether [agreement] can be reached,” by the Nov. 24 deadline, Kerry told journalists at a press conference, following a three-hour meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “They know more than I do.”
“I don’t believe it’s out of reach,” Kerry said. “But we have some tough issues to resolve. I am not going to prognosticate. We need to continue to have some serious discussions and see where we are.”
Kerry spoke here ahead of traveling to Vienna Oct. 15 to meet with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. US nuclear negotiators, led by Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman, Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns and senior adviser Jake Sullivan held bilateral meetings with their Iranian counterparts Deputy Foreign Ministers Abbas Araghchi and Majid Ravanchi in Vienna on Tuesday ahead of the Kerry-Zarif-Ashton trilateral meeting.
