Itongadol.- The Obama administration on Friday responded to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu\’s harsh rejection of a deal being worked out between world powers and Iran on Tehran\’s nuclear program, referring to the Israeli leaders comments as "premature."
Traveling to New Orleans with the president, White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters that "there is no deal" with Iran yet in Geneva.
"Any critique of the deal is premature," Earnest added.
The White House statement came as US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Geneva meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton in attempts to close "the important gaps" that remain between the sides before a deal can be signed.
Upon landing in Geneva, Kerry, who broke off a visit with Netanyahu in Israel to fly to Geneva amid reports of an impending agreement Friday, said "I want to emphasize there is not an agreement at this point."
Prior to leaving Israel, Kerry was told by Netanyahu that the deal in the works with Iran was unacceptable.
"I reminded him of his own words, that it is better not to reach a deal then to reach a bad deal," Netanyahu said after the meeting. "The proposal being discussed now is a bad deal, a very bad deal. Iran is not asked to dismantle even one centrifuge, but the international community is easing sanctions on Iran for the first time in many years."