More talks needed, says US on Iranian nuclear negotiations

The US cautioned against expecting a dramatic breakthrough

As the group of six countries, the P5+1, concluded talks in Geneva with the Iranian leadership on Tehran's controversial nuclear programme, the US today cautioned against expecting a dramatic breakthrough and said further talks are needed and more needs to be done.

"There is obviously more work to be done. Our bottom line remains that Iran cannot acquire a nuclear weapon. We are united with the P-5 plus one. There will be ongoing discussion," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters at a news conference.

The P5 plus one countries, comprising of five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, Britain, Russia, France and China - and Germany today concluded two days of negotiations with Iran in Geneva, where the Iranian officials made a detailed power point presentation on addressing the international concerns over its nuclear weapons programme.

"From talking to our team on the ground, their view is that we have never had detailed technical discussions at this level before, that Iran addressed what they saw as the objective of laying out what they might do as a first step, and also what should be in a final step," Psaki said.

"But with all that being said, there's, of course, a great deal more work that needs to be done," she said adding that the next round of talks would be held in Geneva on November 7 and 8. There will be a technical experts meeting prior to that.

"We're at this point because of the impact of crippling sanctions that has contributed to the pressure that was put on Iran," she added.

Earlier, the White House said the Iranian presentation on addressing the concerns of the international community on its nuclear programme has a "level of seriousness" that has not been seen before.

"We found the Iranian presentation very useful. The Iranian proposal was a new proposal with a level of seriousness and substance that we had not seen before," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.

Meanwhile, a top Republican Senator today introduced a resolution in Congress for additional sanctions on Iran.

"No one should be impressed by what Iran appears to have brought to the table in Geneva. As the United States and the P5+1 continue negotiations with Iran next month, it is time to acknowledge that Tehran has broken its word far too many times to be trusted," Senator Marco Rubio said.

The resolution says that Congress should move to adopt additional sanctions until Iran has demonstrably abandoned its nuclear weapons programme, including any enrichment or reprocessing capability, with complete transparency to the International Atomic Energy Agency.