Kerry: Iran deal isn’t ‘out of reach’

A final deal on Iran’s nuclear program is still possible despite the difficulty of the negotiations, Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday.

“I don’t believe it’s out of reach, but we have some tough issues to resolve,” Kerry told reporters during a press conference in Paris.

{mosads}Representatives from the United States, Iran and five other world powers have set a deadline of Nov. 24 for reaching a deal. The countries extended the talks after missing a self-imposed July 20 deadline.

“We need to continue to have some serious discussions, which we will, and we’ll see where we are,” Kerry said. “And I just think I’ll let the negotiation process speak for itself at this point in time. I don’t think anything is served by a lot of speculation at this point in time.”

On Monday Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran was “certain” it would reach an accord with the West over its nuclear effort before the next deadline.

Kerry’s made his remarks after he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The secretary of State said that Washington and Moscow remain “deeply committed to the diplomatic effort to try to reach an agreement that assures the international community of the fact that the Iranian nuclear program is exclusively peaceful.”

Kerry is set to hold talks in Vienna on Wednesday with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. is committed to meeting the next deadline.

“Let me be clear. November 24th is our deadline. That’s where our focus remains and what all of our efforts are,” she said during a press briefing.

Psaki declined to comment on if there would be another extension in the talks.

“We have six weeks until the deadline. Our focus is on reaching that deadline,” she said. “The secretary is having a trilateral meeting tomorrow to continue to take steps forward.