Kerry says Iran closer to nuclear weapons

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DOHA, Qatar, March 5 (UPI) -- Iran is moving closer to developing a nuclear weapon, John Kerry conceded in an interview after his first foreign trip as U.S. secretary of state.

In an interview with ABC News in Doha, Qatar, Kerry acknowledged Tuesday that despite continued diplomacy and tough economic sanctions against Iran, the regime continues to get closer to possessing nuclear weapons.

"Lines have been drawn before and they've been passed. The region would be far less stable and far more threatened if Iran were to have a nuclear weapon," Kerry told interviewer Martha Raddatz.

Simply having a nuclear weapon would "spur a nuclear arms race" in the Mideast and could be used to support terrorists groups like Hezbollah, he said.