John Kerry Releases First Photo Since Bike Crash
But can the secretary of state heal in time for nuclear talks with Iran?
— -- Secretary of State John Kerry today released the first photo of himself since he broke his leg in a cycling accident on May 31 while riding near the French Alps outside Geneva.
He had surgery exactly one week ago to set his broken femur at Massachusetts General Hospital and has remained there since while he undoes physical therapy.
Meanwhile, new questions are emerging about whether he’ll be able to travel overseas at the end of this month to complete the Iran nuclear negotiations.
Kerry and his counterparts from six world powers and Iran have until the end of the month to hash out a final deal. The talks are expected to take place in Vienna, Austria.
When an interim deal was reached in April, the negotiating parties conducted eight straight days of talks, often on just a few hours of sleep. Kerry is known for his frenetic pace, but last week’s bike accident has forced him to slow down.
In the days following the accident, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf insisted that Kerry would be ready to attend the talks in person and stressed repeatedly that this was important to him. When asked if he planned to be in the room where talks are taking place, Harf responded, “Absolutely.”
But today, eight days later, asked again if Kerry plans to attend the talks, State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke was less emphatic.
"That's something that, you know, he and his doctors will have to, you know, keep under -- keep under review, so I don't have -- I don't have a timeline," Rathke said.
If it’s eventually determined that Kerry is unable to travel, it’s possible that the talks could be moved to New York City. But U.S. officials said that so far there have been no discussions about changing venues.