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Secretary of State John Kerry has told US lawmakers any new sanctions against Iran would risk ruining talks over Tehran's nuclear programme. He told a Senate banking committee that the US might lose negotiating partners if it imposed economic penalties. The panel has been considering a fresh package but legislators are divided on the measure. Mr Kerry has told the BBC that Iran and world powers had come "extremely close" to a deal at the weekend. Before Wednesday's closed-door meeting with senators, Washington's top diplomat told reporters: "What we're asking everybody to do is calm down, look hard at what...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will unexpectedly travel to Geneva on Friday afternoon to meet with Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, NBC News reports. Nuclear talks between Iran and the so-called P5+1 nations resumed in Geneva Thursday morning. Word of Kerry's impending arrival is the strongest sign so far of an agreement on a first step toward a comprehensive final deal, according to NBC. Earlier, a senior American official and Zarif both said a deal could be reached Friday. The United States was pressuring Iran to halt its nuclear program in return for a limited and reversible reprieve on...

North Korea’s top governing body on Sunday proposed high-level nuclear and security talks with the United States in an appeal sent just days after calling off talks with rival South Korea. The powerful National Defense Commission headed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a statement through state media proposing “senior-level” talks to ease tensions and discuss a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War. … Reunifying the Korean Peninsula was a major goal of North Korea’s two late leaders, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, and is a legacy inherited by current leader Kim Jong Un. North...

Report: US, Iran to hold one-on-one talks about Tehran's nuclear program The United States and Iran have reportedly agreed to one-on-one negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program. The talks -- reported first by The New York Times and based on discussions with Obama administration officials -- come as Iran is believed to be building a nuclear weapon and as a result is under heavy economic sanctions. Israel is warned that Iran is close to achieving nuclear capability and has pushed for the United State vow to take military action if needed. State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said Saturday night she has...

Iran Asks European Nations To Resume Nuclear Talks Associated Press November 6, 2005 11:49 a.m. TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's top nuclear negotiator Sunday called for a renewal of nuclear negotiations with France, the United Kingdom and Germany, the state-run news agency reported. In letters to the foreign ministers of the European nations, Ali Larijani asked for "constructive and logical negotiations in the framework of respective conventions and regulations of International Atomic Energy Agency." The Islamic Republic News Agency reported that the letters had been delivered to the nations' ambassadors in Tehran. Two years of on-and-off negotiations over ending disputed portions...

But Washington has far too optimistic a view of China's intentions. Unlike the United States, say Chinese officials and scholars, China appears unwilling to pressure North Korea on human rights and the North's nuclear program--and even appears willing to live with a nuclear North, a view few American officials share. U.S. pressure is unlikely to change China's mind. "The U.S. doesn't have any additional leverage over China on North Korea," says Han Park, a Korea specialist at the University of Georgia who has made many trips to Beijing and Pyongyang. Worse, by continuing to serve as an intermediary while doing...

Iran says it has reached a preliminary agreement with Britain, France and Germany to address concerns about its nuclear programme. Details of the accord reached in Paris have not been revealed but an Iranian negotiator said fundamental principals had been agreed. Europe has called on Iran to suspend all its uranium enrichment activities. Iran denies it has a secret weapons programme, but is threatened with UN action unless it stops its activities.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said that it was currently impossible for the Islamic Republic to engage in any dialogue with the United States.When asked if it was possible for Tehran and Washington to resume discreet but direct diplomatic contacts, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said no.'The US must first change the way it speaks about Iran, he said.'The US has to accept that it is a member of the international community just like everybody else and is not superior..if this mentality changes, the Americans can escape their growing isolation.'Tehran and Washington had cut diplomatic ties after the 1979 Islamic revolution,...