America
Iran nuclear talks make substantial progress: Kerry
Geneva, March 21
US Secretary of State John
Kerry on Saturday said that "substantial progress" has been made in
negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme.
Kerry's remarks came
a day after the P5+1 countries -- the US, China, Russia, France,
Britain, plus Germany -- and Iran suspended their week-long
negotiations, without having reached a framework agreement ahead of the
March 31 deadline, according to a Xinhua report.
"We have not yet
reached the finish line, but make no mistake, we have the opportunity
to try to get this right," Kerry said at press conference in the Swiss
city of Lausanne, where a series of intensive multilateral and bilateral
talks were held to bridge the gaps over Tehran's nuclear programme.
Kerry said that the US was not rushing for an agreement, but it was time to make hard decisions.
"We recognise that fundamental decisions have to be made now and they don't get any easier as time goes by," he noted.
The
top US negotiator will leave for London later to meet his counterparts
from Britain, Germany, and France, and the high representative of the
European Union (EU) to resolve the remaining sticking points.
The
nuclear negotiations will be resumed in Lausanne later next week. The
parties involved in the negotiations had extended the talks in November
last year and are hoping for a comprehensive pact by the end of June
this year.