USA

US Secretary of State Out of Public Eye Since Injury

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (C) cycles past the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, France, March 16, 2015.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was doing well and receiving physical therapy at a Boston hospital after surgery on a broken right leg but it was unclear when he would be released, the State Department said on Tuesday.

Kerry, 71, has been out of the public eye since a May 31 accident while cycling on a portion of the Tour de France route near Scionzier, France.

State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said Kerry was doing well and conducting business by telephone but said he could offer no time frame for the secretary of state's discharge from Massachusetts General Hospital.

Rathke was asked at a daily briefing why the top U.S. diplomat has not been in the public eye since his accident or had any photographs or video released.

"I don't have, I don't have an announcement about ... dates or timelines," he said.

The State Department has said Kerry remains committed to the end-June timetable for Iran nuclear talks. The major powers negotiating with Iran over a final nuclear agreement have a self-imposed June 30 deadline to reach an agreement.

"we remain committed to that," Rathke said. "We believe it's achievable."

Rathke said there was no medical complication that would change that expectation. He said Kerry broke a "major bone" and he was working closely with doctors and progressing in his recovery.