The failure of weekend talks in Geneva to achieve a nuclear program settlement with Iran was to rejection of the deal by Iran, not France, said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
Initial reports indicated the French delegation rejected the reported partial agreement that would have limited Iran's enrichment of uranium in return for a partial lifting of economic sanctions.
Kerry, however said the rejection came from the Iran delegation. Kerry said it was Iran that backed out of the deal, saying it was unacceptable at that particular moment, adding that members of the allied group all agreed to the package.
"[We were] unified on Saturday when we presented a proposal to the Iranians," Kerry said, "and the French signed off on it, we signed off on it, and everybody agreed it was a fair proposal," Kerry told reporters Monday in Abu Dhabi. "There was unity, but Iran couldn't take it at that particular moment, they weren't able to accept that particular thing.''
The discussions between Iran and the others were tentatively scheduled to resume on November 20. Besides the United States, the group includes Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.
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