Tehran: Iran’s leaders plunged the hard-won framework accord on their nuclear programme into doubt yesterday, warning they may not sign a final deal and would demand immediate sanctions relief.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s response to last week’s outline deal had been keenly awaited, and came as a blow to supporters of the plan to rein in Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
“What has been done so far does not guarantee an agreement, nor its contents, nor even that the negotiations will continue,” said Khamenei, who has the final word on all matters of state.
Separately, but in another setback for the deal, President Hassan Rowhani said Iran would not sign a final agreement unless “all economic sanctions are totally lifted on the same day”.
This drew a rebuke from the United States, one of the six world powers negotiating with Iran on the accord, which warned sanctions relief would be a gradual process once the deal was done.
US State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said: “Sanctions will be suspended in a phased manner upon verification that Iran has met specific commitments under a finalised joint comprehensive plan of action.”
In his first comments on the outline, Khamenei said “everything is in the detail; it may be that the other side, which is unfair, wants to limit our country in the details”.
Seeking to dampen domestic public expectations after the rapturous response to the breakthrough, Khamenei said “there is nothing binding. I am neither for nor against”. “I have always supported and still support the Iranian negotiating team,” Khamenei said. “I welcome any agreement that protects the interests and greatness of the nation, but having no agreement is more honourable than an agreement in which the interests and greatness of the nation is damaged.” And he insisted that retaining a civil nuclear industry is vital for Iran’s future development. AFP
