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Story highlights British FM: "The time has come now for Iran ... to make some very tough decisions" U.S. secretary of state says substantial progress has been made but important gaps remain Iranian President says getting a general deal is easy, but ironing out the details may be hard

Rouhani said negotiators from both sides have found new common ground in recent days, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

The President believes that "clinching a general deal is easy," according to the IRNA story, but hammering out agreements on certain details "will be a very tough and complicated job."

Iran has been largely isolated for years for its nuclear program, one that its leaders say the country wants for peaceful purposes. Others, like the United States, have challenged that assertion and instituted strict sanctions, fearing that Tehran actually plans to develop nuclear weapons.

After years of basic stalemates, Iranian officials and representatives of the P5+1 have managed to reach short-term agreements as they try to strike a larger deal.

The sides have been working toward that end in Lausanne, Switzerland, hoping to get a framework pact in place ahead of a March 31 deadline.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, joined these talks Monday. All sides took a break Friday, but are expected to return to the negotiating table soon.

Kerry, addressing reporters Saturday in Lausanne before leaving for London, said "substantial progress" had been made toward reaching a deal but that "important gaps remain."

He insisted that the international powers involved in the talks, the P5+1 -- consisting of Germany and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council: the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain -- were united in their determination to ensure that Iran's nuclear program is purely peaceful.

The stakes are high and the issues complicated, Kerry said.

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Iran: Nuclear deal within reach