29-03-2024 04:04 PM Jerusalem Timing

Kerry Warns: No Iran Deal if Concerns Not Addressed

Kerry Warns: No Iran Deal if Concerns Not Addressed

US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Wednesday there would be no deal with Iran if it fails to satisfy all lingering questions about its nuclear program, as he prepares to head back to tough negotiations.

US Secretary of State John KerryUS Secretary of State John Kerry warned Wednesday there would be no deal with Iran if it fails to satisfy all lingering questions about its nuclear program, as he prepares to head back to tough negotiations.

"It may be that the Iranians will not fill out the full measure of what was agreed on in Lausanne, in which case there will not be an agreement," Kerry told reporters.

He was referring to the parameters of a deal to stop Iran getting a nuclear bomb agreed on April 2 in Switzerland, under which Tehran pledged to reconsider its nuclear activities in return for a lifting of international sanctions.

Whether or not Iran can satisfy the world that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful "will be determined in the last days, by whether or not the outstanding issues that we've been very clear about are in fact addressed," Kerry said.

"If they are not addressed there won't be a deal," the US secretary of state stressed again.

Hs said he was leaving on Friday for Vienna "and I look forward to finding out whether or not we will give the full-throated definition that this effort deserves."

The world needed not just any agreement but a deal "to guarantee that this is peaceful program. It's that simple."

Iran and the six world powers negotiating the deal known as the P5+1 - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - have set themselves a June 30 deadline to nail down one of the world's most complicated nuclear non-proliferation treaties.