Kerry: Iranians are strong in their position

US Secretary of State John Kerry says Iranian negotiators are “strong in their position” as they “fight for” their right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

“Iranians are strong in their position,” Kerry said on Tuesday after two days of talks with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Austrian capital Vienna.

Zarif is a “tough negotiator and knows how to fight for what he’s fighting for,” Kerry told reporters at a news conference, adding that there are “very real gaps in key issues” regarding the talks over Iran’s nuclear program.

The top US official also said that he was still hopeful that a comprehensive deal between Iran and the P5+1 group will be reached by a July 20 deadline but he will consult with President Barack Obama over an extension of the deadline to reach the comprehensive deal.

“I am returning today to Washington to discuss with President Obama and leaders in Congress over the coming days about the prospects for a comprehensive agreement as well as the path forward if we do not achieve one by July 20, including on the question of whether or not more time is warranted, based on the progress we have made and how things are going,” Kerry said.

Meanwhile, Zarif has said that Tehran is seeking to end a deadlock built on an illogical framework and in order to end the current deadlock, the US must “take political decisions in Washington.”

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US – plus Germany reached an interim deal on November 24, 2013, in the Swiss city of Geneva. The six-month deal, which took effect on January 20 and will end on July 20, can be extended depending on the agreement of all parties involved.

What Iran has always insisted on is that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it will never give up the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.