Germany's foreign minister said that Iran is taking international talks seriously in order to reach a permanent agreement over its nuclear fuel programme, Anadolu has reported.

"I have been involved in nuclear talks over the past 10 years," Frank-Walter Steinmeier told journalists. "We always had the impression that Iran was playing for time or playing games. Compared to the past, though, I have the impression that it is now taking the negotiations seriously." The minister was speaking in Geneva after addressing the UN Human Rights Council.

Steinmeier's comments came just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was addressing the US Congress with warnings of potentially serious consequences from "a bad deal" with Iran.