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The world powers were engaged in "serious" talks with Iran over its nuclear program, and the United States is not "blind" or "stupid" in pursuing a deal over the controversial nuclear program in the Islamic republic, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday.
The comment came after three-day intensive talks in Geneva between Iran and Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany, the so-called P5+1, narrowed their differences but failed to produce an interim deal amid hyped expectations. The two sides agreed to meet again on Nov. 20 at the conclusion of their talks on Saturday.
"This is the first time that the P5(1) had come together with this kind of a serious set of possible options in front of it, with a new Iranian government," Kerry told NBC's "Meet the Press" program in Geneva.
"This is a new overture, and it has to be put to the test very, very carefully," he said.
"Some of the most serious and capable, expert people in our government, who have spent a lifetime dealing both with Iran as well as with nuclear weapons and nuclear armament and proliferation, are engaged in our negotiation," he added. "We are not blind, and I don't think we're stupid."
Israel and some hawkish U.S. lawmakers have inveighed against the proposed deal with Iran, in particular the potential relaxation of some sanctions against Tehran.
On the proposed accord with Iran, Kerry said "It is a first step in an effort that will lock the program in where it is todayin fact, set it backwhile one negotiates the full deal."
"And there will not be a relaxation of the pressure," he added. "Nobody has talked about getting rid of the current architecture of sanctions. The pressure will remain."
