Kerry working on Iran nuclear deal as Netanyahu criticizes it

MONTREUX, Switzerland - As Israel's leader was in Washington warning against reaching an accommodation with Tehran, senior U.S. and Iranian officials worked in Switzerland on Tuesday to achieve a nuclear deal.

The talks, being led by Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, have less than a month to go to meet a late-March deadline for a pact meant to crimp Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

In a sign that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech was resonating outside Washington, Zarif decried comments that President Obama made Monday - as part of an administration-wide effort to push back on the Israeli's criticism - in which Obama said Iran would have to suspend its nuclear activities for at least a decade as part of any final agreement.

Zarif, in a statement quoted by Iran's official news agency IRNA, said Obama's remarks were "unacceptable and threatening," aimed at attracting U.S. public opinion while reacting to Netanyahu "and other extremist opponents of the talks."

The U.S. and Iranian sides met for two hours Tuesday morning before taking a break, according to U.S. officials.

"We're working away, productively," Kerry told reporters.

"We are moving and we are talking to be able to make progress," Zarif said. "There are issues and we want to address them. But there is a seriousness that we need to move forward. As we have said all along, we need the necessary political will to understand that the only way to move forward is to negotiate."

Kerry was joined by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. The Iranian side included nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi and Hossein Fereidoun, the brother and aide to President Hassan Rouhani.

Their participation is an indication that the talks have reached a highly technical stage, involving complex details of the types of nuclear technology that Iran would be allowed to operate.

The U.S., Iran, and other world powers are racing to meet the end-of-March target to reach the outline of deal, with a July deadline for a final agreement. At home, Iranian leaders have been readying their nation for a resolution to the decadelong dispute.

Last week, President Rouhani sought the support of religious officials in the holy city of Qom and warned rivals that attempts to undermine his government's diplomacy won't be tolerated. "Subversion has no place in this country," he said.

"The negotiators have never been closer to the finish line," said Ali Vaez, an Istanbul-based senior analyst with the International Crisis Group. "There is as much evidence that leaders in Tehran and Washington are paving the ground for a deal as there is for Mr. Netanyahu trying to derail it."