The White House challenged Iranian negotiators on Sunday to 'live up to their rhetoric ' and strike a nuclear deal with world powers before the March 31 deadline expires . Iran and six world powers have reached tentative agreement on key parts of a deal sharply curtailing Tehran 's nuclear ambitions , Western diplomats said in Lausanne , where negotiators are racing to nail down an accord by midnight Tuesday . If negotiations are not met by the end of March , the House plans to hit Iran with fresh nuclear sanctions . Doubt : White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that Iran needs to 'send a clear signal ' as to whether or not 'they are willing to make the serious commitments required ' to finalize nuclear negotiations ( file photo ) 'We 've been negotiating for more than a year and ultimately it 's time for the Iranians to send a clear signal to the international community about whether or not they are willing to make the serious commitments required , ' White House press secretary Josh Earnest told ABC 's This Week . The Iranians must 'basically live up to their rhetoric , that they are not trying to acquire a nuclear weapon . So if they can make those commitments , they should be able to do that by the end of March , ' he said . Separately , House Speaker John Boehner promised to move 'very quickly ' to hit Iran with new sanctions if a nuclear deal collapses . 'Very quickly . Listen , the sanctions were working , ' Boehner said on CNN 's State of the Union . House Speaker John Boehner said that he plans to quickly hit Iran with fresh sanctions if the nuclear deal does not pull through by the end of March ( file photo ) He added : 'They would have never come to the table and , frankly , we should have kept the sanctions in place so that we could have gotten to a real agreement . 'And the sanctions are going to come and they 're going to come quick . ' Boehner added that he had 'serious doubts ' about the ongoing talks in Switzerland . ' I 've had serious doubts whether there could be an agreement and I still have serious doubts , ' he said .
Iran and six world powers have reached a tentative agreement within Iran 's nuclear ambitions . White House press secretary Josh Earnest said it 's time for 'Iranians to send a clear signal ' as to whether they 're ready to make commitments . House Speaker John Boehner promised to move 'very quickly ' to hit Iran with sanctions if a nuclear deal collapses .