Zee Media Bureau
London: Even as the recent nuclear talks held between Iran and the six world powers ended without any agreement, with France slamming what it called as "fool`s game", British Foreign Secretary William Hague appeared optimistic and said that a deal "was on the table".
Speaking to the BBC, William Hague said expressed hope that the nuke deal between Iran and the six world powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) was possible in the future but he refused to put a definite time frame to it.
Although admitting that the talks were going to be "difficult", Hague said, "On the question of will it happen in the next few weeks, there is a good chance of that. A deal is on the table and it can be done."
On being asked what went wrong with the recent talks held in Geneva this Friday, Hague played down the differences between Iran and other leaders as "narrow gaps" saying, "They are narrow gaps. You asked what went wrong, I would say that a great deal went right."
"This is a very difficult negotiation but it`s fundamental to international peace and security over the next few years so we have to persist," Hague added.
Hague appeared to echo similar remarks as said by John Kerry who said that the Geneva talks had "narrowed the differences" and future talks would resolve further discrepancies.
Appreciating Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Hague said he felt Iranian wanted to reach a settlement.
"I do believe that he wants to solve this problem, that he is out to do a deal," Hague told the BBC.
Hague`s comments came after the latest talks between Iran and the sextet failed to strike an agreement with France rejecting Iranian proposals that would uplift sanctions against Tehran.
Slamming an Iranian draft of measures proposed to curb its nuke programme, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told a French radio station that Paris would not tolerate a "fool`s game".
The Geneva meeting allowed us to advance but we were not able to conclude because there are still some questions to be addressed," Fabius told reporters after the talks.
