U.S. and Iranian officials are giving differing assessments of the progress of nuclear talks. The head of Iran’s nuclear agency told state media 90 percent of the technical issues involved have been resolved. But speaking in Washington, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the odds of an agreement are 50-50.

Josh Earnest: “In the mind of the president, the odds have not moved, that we are in a situation where we are — at best, it’s a 50-50 proposition that a deal will be completed before the end of March. There are a couple of reasons for that. The first is, the president is driving a very hard bargain, and Iran is going to have to make some very tough and specific commitments as it relates to resolving the international community’s concerns with their nuclear program, as well as agreeing to a set of extraordinarily intrusive inspections.”

Iran, the United States and five world powers are seeking a framework deal by the end of the month, followed by a final agreement in June. The talks continue in Switzerland.