It's a formidable task,

We cannot afford to soften these conditions.

Successful diplomacy is an alignment of objectives and means.

You don't have any communication between the Israelis and the Iranians. You have all sorts of local triggers for conflict. Having countries act on a hair trigger - where they can't afford to be second to strike - the potential for a miscalculation or a nuclear war through inadvertence is simply too high.

I need to go back to report to the president and secretary of state. The process has to be brought to conclusion at some point soon.

We had a very good discussion, and I think we are making headway. Issues are being dealt with seriously, intensively and comprehensively in a way that I think gives us a chance to put the process back on track.