Kerry, Zarif leave Vienna for consultations after meeting

VIENNA — US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif left nuclear talks in Vienna Friday after meeting in an effort to move the stalled talks forward.

US officials said Kerry was heading for Paris, while members of Iran’s delegation to the talks said that Zarif was flying to Tehran for consultations ahead of a Monday deadline for a deal aimed at curtailing Iranian nuclear projects that could be used to make weapons.

A US statement said Kerry’s “future travel schedule is still being finalized, and we have not yet determined when he will return to Vienna.” That suggested that he was waiting to see whether Zarif would return with new proposals before deciding.

The statement said he would be consulting with “European counterparts” in Paris.

Britain foreign secretary said Friday that Iran had a “huge” amount to gain if it could show sufficient flexibility and agree to a nuclear accord with world powers.

“The prize for Iran is huge — access to very large amounts of frozen assets, the ability to trade freely with the world again and the ability to reset relationships with the international community,” Philip Hammond said as he arrived in Vienna to join the talks.

“We have a long way to go if we are to get to a deal before the deadline on Monday…It’s clear that both sides want to try to get a deal done, but none of us want to do a bad deal,” he told reporters.

“And we’re very clear that we have to get more flexibility from the Iranians. In return, we’re prepared to show some flexibility on our side. Time is short. We’re up against a deadline,” he said. He added: “I’m a realist, I hope. We’ve got a very short amount of time. What we’re all focussed on now is trying to get the key principles of a deal agreed over the next 72 hours so that we can meet that important deadline.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that “all the elements” were in place to reach an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program.

“The task of diplomats now is to correctly put together a package,” Lavrov told journalists in Moscow after discussing the talks with visiting Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.

The Russian diplomat called for the negotiators to “show political will so that the result is based on the balance of interests, and is not subjected to attempts at the last minute to haggle something beyond what is realistic.”

“I am proceeding from the assumption that in the end common sense and the aim to reach a compromise on this long-standing problem will after all prevail,” Lavrov said.