Kerry: US determined to make a good nuclear deal with Iran

US Secretary of State John Kerry says the United States is “absolutely determined” to make a good nuclear deal with Iran following the recent talks in Geneva.

“We are absolutely determined that this would be a good deal, or there’ll be no deal,” Kerry told NBC News on Sunday.

“We are not blind, and I don’t think we’re stupid. I think we have a pretty strong sense of how to measure whether or not we are acting in the interests of our country and of the globe,” he added, referring to Israel’s outrage over the latest talks.

The top US diplomat made the comments after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued his efforts to prevent a looming deal following talks between Iran and the world powers.

“Iran gives practically nothing and it gets a hell of a lot,” Netanyahu claimed in an interview with CBS News on Sunday.

The hawkish prime minister once again said the deal would not be a “good deal” for Israel and the United States.

This is while participating nations in the negotiations said progress was made and they narrowed their differences over the weekend. The two sides are set to meet again on November 20.

“I think there was unity (among western diplomats) there… with respect to getting it right,” Kerry said. “And we all have said, President Obama has been crystal clear. Don’t rush. We’re not in a rush. We need to get the right deal. No deal is better than a bad deal.”

Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said a nuclear deal with Tehran could be reached.

Hague said the talks have made “very good progress,” but that there are still important issues to resolve.

“If there is not (a deal), of course then we must continue to apply ourselves in the coming weeks, building on the progress that has been made already,” Hague said. “But we are making every effort to do so. While a number of issues have been satisfactorily addressed, the atmosphere of these negotiations, as others have told you before, is completely different from the atmosphere of a few months ago.”

European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said there had been “concrete progress but some differences remain.”