France, US want stronger nuke deal with Iran

PARIS (Xinhua) - The United State and France agreed on Saturday that the current nuclear deal under discussion with Iran needs to be stronger, stressing more work is still to be done to bridge gaps, said US Secretary of State John Kerry.

"All of us in the P5+1 are deeply committed in ensuring that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon ... We have made progress but they remain gaps and we need to close these gaps," Kerry said after meeting French top diplomat Laurent Fabius in Paris.

"We have to get the right deal. It's up to Iran that wants a peaceful nuclear program to show the world that indeed it do exactly what it said," he added.

In the joint press meeting, Fabius noted that "there is still work to do" in order to reach a final and sustainable accord on Teheran nuclear plan.

Hosting his counterparts from Germany and Britain as well as EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on the Iranian issue, Fabius said that there has been progress in some areas but there are also differences.

France's top diplomat stressed Paris and Washington shared the same target to reach a "strong deal" with which Iran could continue its peaceful nuclear program. But, "it has to show concretely and with certainty that it abandon any objective to build nuclear power."

In November 2013, Iran accepted to halt enrichment above 5 percent and neutralizing its stockpile of near 20 percent uranium by means of dilution or converting and to not installing more centrifuges in exchange for limited sanctions relief.

The six world major countries, namely the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia had set June deadline to forge a final and comprehensive agreement after differences over the number of centrifuges Tehran can keep clouded talk and extend negotiations for another several months.

Iran has been a target of UN sanctions due to its alleged attempts to build nuclear weapons. The West accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the cover of civilian nuclear programs, which Iran has denied, insisting that its nuclear programs are for peaceful purposes only.