MUNICH — Iran's foreign minister said on Sunday that now is the time to reach a deal with his country on its nuclear program, and pushed for a lifting of sanctions, saying they were “a liability.” Mohammed Javad Zarif met for about 90 minutes early Sunday with US Secretary of State John Kerry, their second meeting on the sidelines of an international security conference. He has also met with, or planned meetings with, all the other permanent members of the UN Security council and Germany, which have been negotiating with Iran. Following the talks with Kerry, he told the conference that progress had been made in the past months, and that there was now a window of opportunity to come up with a final deal. “This is the opportunity to do it, and we need to seize this opportunity,” he said. “It may not be repeated.” Details of Sunday's discussion with Kerry were not immediately available, but the pair last met on Friday for two hours during which Kerry pressed Zarif on the Obama administration's desire to meet an end of March target date for the outline of a nuclear agreement. Formal negotiations with Iran are to resume soon with an eye toward agreeing on the political framework for a final deal that they hope to reach by the summer. — AP
