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Iranian nuke talks make genuine progress: Kerry

Xinhua, March 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday said "substantial progress" has been made in Iranian nuclear negotiations.

Kerry's remarks came one day after the P5+1 countries (the United States, China, Russia, France, Britain, plus Germany) and Iran suspended the week-long negotiations, without having reached a framework agreement ahead of the March 31 deadline.

"We have not yet reached the finish line but make no mistake we have the opportunity to try to get this right," Kerry told a press conference in Swiss city of Lausanne, where a series of intensive multilateral and bilateral talks were held to bridge the gaps on Tehran's nuclear issue.

Kerry said Saturday that the United States wasn't rushing for an agreement, but it is time to make hard decisions.

"We recognize that fundamental decisions have to be made now and they don't get any easier as time goes by," he noted.

The top U.S. negotiator will leave for London later the day to meet with his European counterparts from Britain, Germany, and France, and the high representative of the European Union to resolve the remaining sticking points.

The nuclear negotiations will be resumed in Lausanne later next week. Endit