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Kerry calls for patience over nuke talks with Iran

Xinhua, February 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday urged critics to "wait and see" as negotiations with Iran are continuing toward a comprehensive agreement over its controversial nuclear program.

Addressing naysayers both at home and abroad, the top American envoy echoed their refrainment by reiterating that Washington is determined to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.

"And anybody running around right now, jumping in to say, 'Well, we don't like the deal,' or this or that, doesn't know what the deal is," he said at a Senate Committee on Appropriations hearing on his agency's 2016 budget request.

"There is no deal yet," he added. "And I caution people to wait and see what these negotiations produce."

Kerry had intensive talks with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad- Javad Zarif in Geneva, Switzerland, Sunday and Monday, as part of the broad efforts of the so-called P5+1 group of the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia plus Germany to map out outlines of the deal by the end of March and then a comprehensive one three months later.

Some U.S. lawmakers and Israel are among the fiercest critics of the talks with Iran, arguing a negotiated deal would not prevent the Islamic republic from acquiring nuclear bombs.

Iran and the P5+1 have missed twice self-imposed deadlines for an accord since they reached an interim deal in November 2013, under which Tehran agreed to halt some of its nuclear activities in return for eased sanctions and negotiate a comprehensive deal.

"Since 2013, we have been testing whether or not we can achieve that goal diplomatically. I don't know yet," Kerry said. "But it's the most effective way to solve a problem, and we will prove that over the course of these next weeks and months."

"The P5+1 talks have made inroads since the joint plan of action," he added. "We've halted the progress of Tehran's nuclear program, we gained unprecedented insight into it, and we expect to know soon whether or not Iran is willing to put together an acceptable and verifiable plan." Endite