Kerry, Europeans rush to lead Iran talks amid hopes of deal

Geneva (AFP) - Top world diplomats rushed to Geneva on Friday amid rising hopes for a long-sought deal on Iran's nuclear programme, but warned there were still major obstacles to overcome.

After cutting short a Middle East tour to attend the talks, US Secretary of State John Kerry struck a note of caution as he joined his British, French and German counterparts who had converged on Geneva.

"There is not an agreement at this point," Kerry told reporters before heading into talks with Iran's foreign minister and EU chief diplomat Catherine Ashton, who has represented world powers at the talks.

"There are still some very important issues on the table that are unresolved," Kerry said.

"It is important for those to be properly, thoroughly addressed," he said, adding though that world powers were "working hard" to reach an agreement.

After initial reports that he would stay away from the talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was expected to arrive in Geneva on Saturday, raising further hopes a deal was in the works.

"We hope that his participation in the negotiations would help to bring positive results," the Itar-Tass news agency quoted an anonymous source as saying.

Lavrov's arrival would bring together the foreign ministers of all but one of the six world powers that have been negotiating for a decade with Iran over its nuclear programme.

If some sort of agreement is reached, it would be a breakthrough after a decade of negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group comprising the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who cancelled a planned trip to Rome Thursday to continue negotiations, has said he believes a preliminary deal could be struck during this round in Geneva.

The talks, which started Thursday, were meant to have ended late Friday. But officials said they would be extended at least into Saturday.

The State Department said Kerry had also cancelled a planned trip to Algeria and Morocco on Monday and Tuesday.

The outlines of a proposal Iran made in the previous round last month have been kept confidential by both sides in a bid to advance positions.

But the hoped-for agreement -- seen as a first step ahead of further talks on a final deal -- could see Tehran freeze its nuclear efforts for as long as six months in exchange for some relief from the sanctions that have battered its economy.

Reports say the proposed deal could see Tehran stop enriching uranium to 20 percent, which is just a few technical steps from weapons grade, reduce existing stockpiles and agree not to activate its plutonium reactor at Arak.

Global powers would in exchange take limited and "reversible" measures to ease sanctions, such as unfreezing some Iranian funds in foreign accounts.

'Deal of the century'

Negotiators would then have time to work out a more comprehensive deal that Tehran has said it hopes could be in place within a year.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was also cautious in Geneva.

"There has been progress but nothing has been agreed yet," he said. "For the moment, major questions have not yet been resolved."

The possible deal already came fire under from Israel, which has staunchly opposed any easing of sanctions against Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who hosted Kerry on a brief stopover before Geneva, urged world powers to back away from the agreement.

"Iran got the deal of the century and the international community got a bad deal, this is a very bad deal. Israel utterly rejects it," Netanyahu told reporters.

Washington rejected the Israeli criticism, with White House spokesman Josh Earnest saying aboard Air Force One: "There is no deal. Any critique of the deal is premature."

Iran has repeatedly denied its nuclear programme is for anything other than generating electricity and for medical purposes.

But the world powers in the talks -- which include the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, which has issued multiple resolutions against Iran's uranium enrichment -- suspect Tehran's programme was aimed at developing nuclear weapons.

The head of the UN atomic watchdog, Yukiya Amano, will travel to Tehran on Monday to discuss "technical issues" related to monitoring of Iran's nuclear programme, the agency said in a statement.

The two paths of talks with Iran over its atomic activities were given new momentum by the June election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, seen as a relative moderate.

Iran is anxious for relief from crippling US and EU economic sanctions that have cut oil revenues by more than half, caused the value of the rial to plunge and pushed inflation above 40 percent.

The West is also keen to seize a rare opportunity to build bridges with Iran after decades of hostility, opening the door to engaging with Tehran on other issues such as the conflict in Syria, where Iran has backed President Bashar al-Assad against insurgents.