--- description: Foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says final deal within reach if 'good will' exists title: Iran Foreign Minister Says Final Nuke Deal Possible Within Six Months image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Iran](/tag/iran/) ## Iran Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Iran Minister: Final Nuclear Deal Possible Within Six Months  by [Andrew Katz](/author/andrew-katz/)  ## Andrew Katz Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 3, 2014 3:43 PM CUT  by [Andrew Katz](/author/andrew-katz/)  ## Andrew Katz Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 3, 2014 3:43 PM CUT Iran’s foreign minister [said](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/03/us-iran-nuclear-zarif-idUSBREA120MP20140203 "undefined") on Monday that a nuclear deal can be finalized within six months if there is “good will” and that he’s not worried about the possibility that the U.S. may impose new sanctions. The new remarks from Mohammad Javad Zarif came in a speech to the German Council on Foreign Relations. “With good will we can reach an agreement within six months,” he said. “I don’t fear a decision in the U.S. Congress … The U.S. president has promised to veto it.” In his State of the Union address last week, President Barack Obama said he would veto any legislation passed by Congress that threatened the negotiations with Iran. Some U.S. senators have co-sponsored a bill that would set new economic sanctions on Iran if the current talks fail. The bill is currently stalled, but Iran has said it would pull back from the negotiating table it the bill becomes law. On Sunday, Zarif met with Secretary of State John Kerry and representatives other world powers working with Iran to secure a deal. He [said](http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-meets-iran-counterpart-germany-094345866.html "undefined") the Islamic Republic was committed to moving forward with negotiations in order to reach a “balanced” long-term agreement: “I think the opportunity is there, and I think we need to seize it.” A preliminary deal for Iran to scale back its nuclear program in return for an easing of crippling economic sanctions was reached in November under the stipulation that a more final resolution would be negotiated within the six months that followed. \[[Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/03/us-iran-nuclear-zarif-idUSBREA120MP20140203 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3551/iran-minister-final-nuclear-deal-possible-within-six-months/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3551/iran-minister-final-nuclear-deal-possible-within-six-months/"},"headline":"Iran Minister: Final Nuclear Deal Possible Within Six Months","datePublished":"2014-02-03T15:43:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:16:40.173Z","description":"Foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says final deal within reach if 'good will' exists","url":"https://time.com/3551/iran-minister-final-nuclear-deal-possible-within-six-months/","keywords":["Iran","Middle East","Nuclear Weapons"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Andrew Katz","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/andrew-katz/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/iran/","name":"Iran"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3551/iran-minister-final-nuclear-deal-possible-within-six-months/","name":"Iran Minister: Final Nuclear Deal Possible Within Six Months"}}]}] ```