The United States and Iran are taking part in talks today in the highest-level contact between the two sides since the 1979 Iranian revolution. Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are sitting down with their counterparts from the five other countries involved in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. In Washington, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the Obama administration views the talks as a test of Iran’s recent calls for dialogue.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney: “What we heard from President Rouhani, I think, reflects what we’ve been hearing, and that is an interest in making progress towards resolving this very serious problem that Iran has over its nuclear weapons program. And that is why, as we’ve been saying for a while now, including in New York at the United Nations, we are very interested in testing the assertions about that interest on behalf of the Iranians in resolving this conflict diplomatically.”

Speaking to The Washington Post, Rouhani said he envisions a deal on Iran’s nuclear program within “months, not years.”