No deal yet in Iran nuclear talks

The US and France have said that talks on Iran's nuclear programme in Geneva were still ongoing and gaps needed to be narrowed to clinch an interim deal.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that significant differences between Iran and six world powers trying to fashion the nuclear agreement remained, as he and three European foreign ministers added their weight to try to narrow the gap.

"I want to emphasise there is not an agreement at this point," Kerry said shortly after arriving in Geneva, tempering rising anticipation of a breakthrough.

"We hope to try to narrow these differences but I don't think anybody should mistake there are some important gaps that have to be closed," he told reporters.

Kerry planned to meet later with his European counterparts before joint talks with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, and Catherine Ashton, the EU's top diplomat convening the talks.

France's Foreign Minister said that major questions still remained to be answered during the talks.

"France wants a credible accord on Iran's nuclear programme," Laurent Fabius said in a statement sent to Reuters.

Meanwhile, Iran has told Western powers that it wanted them to consider easing oil and banking sanctions during the first phase of any interim nuclear deal they agree to, an Iranian delegate at the talks said on Friday.

"We have announced to the West that in the first phase the issue of banking and oil sanctions must be considered," Majid Takht-Ravanchi, a member of Iran's negotiating team in Geneva, was quoted as saying by Iran's Mehr news agency.

Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from Geneva, says: "There are also reports that Chinese Foreign Minister will be here. It will mean the whole of p5+1, all will be represented at Foreign Minister level. It shows they believe that possibly, with a nudge, they can get some sort of a historic deal."

Optimism

Officials had expressed optimism about progress achieved in Thursday's full day of talks.

But comments from Kerry and his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany after they arrived in Geneva clearly indicated that some obstacles remained in the way of any agreement offering sanctions reductions for nuclear concessions.

Kerry arrived from Tel Aviv after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu where he tried to defuse Israeli concerns about the Geneva talks.

Israel is strongly critical of any deal that even slightly lifts sanctions unless Iran is totally stripped of technology that can make nuclear arms.

The White House on Friday rejected angry Israeli criticism of a proposed interim agreement as "premature" as no deal had yet been reached.

"There is no deal. Any critique of the deal is premature," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said aboard Air Force One.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier warned US Secretary of State John Kerry he was offering Iran the "deal of the century".

Rollback of sanctions

The talks primarily focus on the size and output of Iran's enrichment programme, which can create both reactor fuel and weapons-grade material suitable for a nuclear bomb.

Iran insists it is pursuing only nuclear energy, medical treatments and research, but the United States and its allies fear that Iran could turn this material into the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

Six powers - the negotiators also include Russia and China – are considering a gradual rollback of sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy.

In exchange they demand initial curbs on Iran's nuclear programme, including a cap on enrichment to a level that can be turned quickly to weapons use.

But their proposal would maintain core sanctions on Iran's oil exports and financial sector, as an incentive for Iran to work toward a comprehensive and permanent nuclear accord.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who spoke of “a chance for reaching agreement on a common approach” despite the remaining differences, is heading to Geneva to attend the talks.

There was no word from Beijing on any plans by the Chinese foreign minister to join his colleagues.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies