Kerry: Won't accept a bad Iran deal

MONTREUX, Switzerland - U.S. officials sought Wednesday to tamp down expectations of a substantial preliminary nuclear deal with Iran by the March deadline while working to move past the political dust kicked up by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's criticism of an emerging agreement's contours.

Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington was well aware of the potential nuclear danger Iran posed in the region and would endorse only an agreement that seriously and verifiably crimps Tehran's ability to make atomic arms.

"We continue to be focused on reaching a good deal, the right deal, that closes off any paths that Iran could have toward fissile material for a weapon and that protects the world from the enormous threat that we all know a nuclear-armed Iran would pose," Kerry told reporters at the end of meetings with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

The sides hope to have a progress report by late March allowing them to finesse details into a final pact by June. But a senior U.S. official appeared to walk back from the significance of that first stage, describing it as only "an understanding that's going to have to be filled out with lots of detail" by the June final target date.

The official's comments contrast sharply with what the West laid down earlier.

Justifying an extension of the talks Nov. 24, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond of Britain - one of the five powers backing the U.S. at the talks - said he expected "an agreement on substance" by March. Western and Iranian negotiators said then they would use the time between March and June only "if necessary . . . to finalize any possible remaining technical and drafting work."

The U.S. official, who demanded anonymity, said President Obama would make a call on whether to continue into June once he sees the March assessment from U.S. negotiators.

Also Wednesday, key Senate Democrats led by Minority Leader Harry Reid announced their opposition to fast action on a bill giving Congress final say on any nuclear deal with Iran. "I think we are better off on things relating to the Iran deal to wait until we see if there can be something negotiated," he said.

Not long after Reid made his comments, the Iran bill's chief Democratic sponsor, New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, and other Democrats sent a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announcing they would not vote in favor of the bill until after a March 24 deadline for a framework for a nuclear deal with Tehran.