Marie Harf

Iran and six major powers will keep negotiating past the July 7 deadline for a long-term nuclear agreement as they tackle the most contentious issues, including the continuation of a U.N. arms embargo on Iran, the big powers said. 

US top diplomat John Kerry remains focused on nailing down a nuclear deal with Iran and plans to join the final negotiations in late June despite breaking his leg in a cycling accident, officials said June 1.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson who was called a ?stupid blonde? by the mayor of Ankara has voiced surprise that journalists are still interested in the issue.

The US is in communications with officials from the Marshall Islands to determine the best peaceful solution to the problem with the container ship Maersk Tigris detained by Iran at the Strait of Hormuz.

According to Marie Harf, Spokesperson for the United States Department of State, the US hopes that the problem will be settled by diplomatic means.

The mayor of Turkey?s capital has challenged a U.S. State Department spokesperson by referring to a pro-government media report that slammed her as ?stupid blonde.?

The United States April 14 called for a "full, frank" acknowledgement of the facts surrounding the mass killing of Armenians in World War I, but shied away from calling it "a genocide."       

Ankara has hit out at Pope Francis for his use of the word in a weekend address, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an saying "I condemn this mistake."       

In a sign that keenly watched Iran nuclear talks will go down to the wire, top US diplomat John Kerry has cancelled plans to attend a key event in Boston on March 30 to remain at the negotiations in Switzerland.
  

U.S. State Department spokesperson Marie Harf was taken aback on March 4 when a reporter questioned her about a visit to New York by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu, saying she did not know anything about the visit.