US 'very close' to Iran nuclear deal, official says

The deputy national security adviser for strategic communication for US President Barack Obama, Ben Rhodes, said that the US is now "very close" to a nuclear deal with Iran, Trend reports on Saturday.

"We do believe that we can make a first step in an agreement that halts the progress of the Iranian nuclear program, rolls back some of elements of that program, in exchange for some modest relief from  the sanctions," Rhodes is quoted as saying in an interview with the CNN TV channel.

"The core sanctions, the oil sanctions, the banking sanctions, will remain in place, even after this first step of an agreement," Rhodes added. "Iran will lose more in revenue because of those enforced sanctions, then it would gain from this relief."