U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned that significant differences remain between six world powers and Iran before his meeting with the Islamic Republic's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Geneva, Switzerland. The P5+1 Talks in Geneva intend to devise a potential nuclear agreement with Iran, which would alleviate its sanctions leveled against it, The Associated Press reported.
Kerry said that "obstacles remain" before an agreement could be possible.
Russian news agencies reported late Friday that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would join Kerry and the European ministers in Geneva on Saturday, The AP also reported.
This comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with the U.S. Secretary of State just hours earlier, "utterly oppose[d]" a deal unless Iran is is stripped of its technology, which could be used to make a nuclear bomb.
"I reminded him of his own words, that it is better not to reach a deal then to reach a bad deal. The proposal being discussed now is a bad deal, a very bad deal. Iran is not asked to dismantle even one centrifuge, but the international community is easing sanctions on Iran for the first time in many years," Netanyahu said after his meeting with Kerry.
Netanyahu said that he understands that the Iranians are "walking around very satisfied in Geneva, as well they should be, because they got everything, and paid nothing," he said.
"What I am saying is shared by many, many in the region whether or not they express it publicly. Israel is not obliged by this agreement and Israel will do everything it needs to defend itself, to defend the security of its people," he said, as reported by The Jerusalem Post.
"Any critique of the deal if premature," the White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Friday.
Iranian President Hasan Rouhani expressed an open desire to mend forces with the West since he was elected in June. This was confirmed by well-received speech at the United Nations in September, which prompted a phone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama.
"We must work together to end the unhealthy rivalries and interferences that fuel violence and drive us apart," Rouhani wrote in The Washington Post.
Israel, however, remains ever more skeptical about Rouhani's true intentions. Netanyahu's fears the move may be just a stalling tactic and distraction to the world, enabling Iran the ability and ample time to create a bomb.
"Netanyahu's worst nightmare is about to come true. This is not just Netanyahu. This is the position of everyone in the Israeli security establishment," said Ehud Yaari, an Israel-based fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Reuters reported.
Iran has used proxy groups, like Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad to wage terrorism against the Jewish State.
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