Nuclear deal with Iran very close: US journalist

The Unites States and other P5+1 countries are very close to reach a deal with Iran over its nuclear energy program, an American journalist in Phoenix says.

Mike Harris, a financial editor at Veterans Today, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Sunday while commenting on US Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement in which he said "genuine progress"​has been made during negotiations in Vienna.

"Over the past few days we have in fact made genuine progress, but I want to be absolutely clear with everybody we are not yet where we need to be on several of the most difficult issues," Kerry told reporters in the Austrian capital on Sunday.

“I am encouraged with the remarks by John Kerry. I think that a nuclear agreement with Iran is very close,” Harris said.

“I think this will lead to many, many other benefits, such as removing sanctions, stabilizing relationships, exchange of commerce between the two countries,” he added.

Representatives from Iran and the P5+1 – the US, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany – are engaged in intense negotiations in Vienna to seal the nuclear deal. The two sides extended their self-imposed end-of-June deadline for a comprehensive agreement to July 7.

Harris said that “all parties are negotiating still, and they are holding out there to get the best deal what they want.”

“This is the critical point, and people need to remember a good compromise is when everybody leaves a little bit unhappy, because they gave up more than they thought they should,” he noted.

“I am very optimist about this. I have been advocating for normal relationships with Iran for a long time,” he stated.

“In my opinion, Iran is not a threat to the United States, or anyone even in the region. They have been a very peaceful country,” the analyst emphasized.

“It’s time to move forward, it’s time to put the hard feelings of the past behind us. And it’s time for the US to be engaging and to embrace a new reality,” he concluded.

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