Zarif demands all sanctions must go before nuclear agreement

TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday that prior to the nuclear agreement all sanctions against Iran should be lifted.

The statement come as US Secretary of State John Kerry has asked Congress for more time to negotiate a final deal with Tehran.

"... As long as this instrument of coercion and pressure is kept there, I think people will never have the peace of mind that is needed in order to implement a good agreement," Zarif was quoted in the press.

Meanwhile AFP reports that Kerry briefed Congress lawmakers about the deal struck earlier in Lausanne.

"We hope Congress will listen carefully and ask the questions that it wants, but also give us the space and time to be able to complete a very difficult task which has high stakes for our country," Kerry told journalists, ahead of the closed-door briefing.