Kerry says Iran nuclear talks can't go on infinitely

The United States and top Gulf Arab ally Saudi Arabia said on Monday that talks between Iran and world powers on a diplomatic solution to its disputed nuclear program could not go on indefinitely.

Israel, Iran’s arch-enemy and convinced Tehran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons, has grown impatient with the protracted talks and has threatened pre-emptive war against Tehran if it deems diplomacy ultimately futile.

“There is a finite amount of time,” Secretary of State John Kerry, in Riyadh on his first overseas trip as Secretary of State, said of the talks between a group of six world powers and Tehran, Saudi Arabia’s main regional adversary.

Kerry was speaking at a news conference held jointly with his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al-Faisal, who suggested Iran was not showing sufficient seriousness about the discussions, which he said “cannot go on forever”.

Iran was upbeat last week after talks with the powers in Kazakhstan about its nuclear work ended with an agreement to meet again. But Western officials said it had yet to take concrete steps to ease their fears about its atomic ambitions.

The United States, China, France, Russia, Britain and Germany offered modest sanctions relief in return for Iran curbing its most sensitive nuclear work but made clear that they expected no immediate breakthrough.

Prince Saud suggested that the Iranians did not appear sufficiently committed at the talks in Almaty, Kazakhstan.