MONTREUX, switzerland — U.S. officials sought Wednesday to tamp down expectations of a substantial preliminary nuclear deal with Iran by the March deadline while working to move past the political dust kicked up by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington was well-aware of the potential nuclear danger Iran poses to countries in the region and will endorse only an agreement that seriously and verifiably crimps Iran’s ability to make atomic arms.
“We continue to be focused on reaching a good deal, the right deal, that closes off any paths that Iran could have towards fissile material for a weapon and that protects the world from the enormous threat that we all know a nuclear-armed Iran would pose,” Kerry said at the end of meetings with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
The Iranian diplomat told NBC News on Wednesday, “We believe that we are very close, very close.”
The sides hope to have a progress report by late March allowing them to finesse details into a final pact by June. Western and Iranian negotiators said then they would use the time between March and June only “if necessary … to finalize any possible remaining technical and drafting work.”
A U.S. official who demanded anonymity in line with State Department rules said President Barack Obama will make a call on whether to continue the talks into June.
