Washington---Top US diplomat John Kerry said Tuesday he is preparing to resume tough nuclear talks with Iran only weeks after breaking his leg, as Washington works to nail down a deal putting an atomic bomb out of Tehran's reach.
Appearing by live video feed from his home in Boston where he is recovering after surgery and almost two weeks in hospital, Kerry said he would fly back to Washington later Tuesday to plan key talks with China early next week.
"That will be the prelude to my departing at some point -- we're not exactly sure of the date" for the next talks with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, possibly in Vienna, he said.
Kerry said he hoped that trip "would be the closeout and should be the closeout of the negotiations with respect to the Iran nuclear program."
The stakes remained "very high," Kerry told reporters, adding the talks were "tough."
"As I have said consistently, we're not going to rush to an agreement for the sake of an agreement, and we're not going to sign an agreement that we don't believe gets the job done."
Iran and the so-called P5+1 group leading the negotiations to stop Tehran developing a nuclear bomb are working towards a June 30 deadline for a final deal.
But one of Iran's top negotiators, Abbas Araghchi, hinted Tuesday the talks may run long as he prepared to head to Vienna for more lower-level meetings.
"The date... was selected for the end of negotiations but we will not sacrifice a good agreement for the sake of the schedule," Araghchi was quoted as saying by Iranian state television.
One of the thorniest issues still being haggled over is the lifting of a web of US, EU and UN sanctions and what to do if Iran violates any deal.
President Barack Obama "has been very clear from the very beginning that we cannot allow a procedure for snap-back to be left in the hands of Russia or China," US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power told US lawmakers earlier Tuesday.
Iran has called for an immediate end to the crippling sanctions. But it is more likely that the deal will include the gradual lifting of certain measures in return for action by Tehran in meeting goals to diminish its nuclear capability.
AFP
