TEHRAN: Iran said yesterday nuclear talks with world powers this week will be “difficult,” as France made four demands for a deal with Tehran and Israel warned against a “nightmare” accord.
Negotiations between Iran and the so-called P5+1 — Britain, France, the US, Russia and China plus Germany — restart in Geneva on Wednesday after the last round failed to seal a deal.
Top diplomats insisted they were closing in on an interim agreement that would see Iran curb or freeze parts of its nuclear programme for some relief from crippling sanctions.
Senior negotiator Abbas Araqchi said “the next round of nuclear talks will be difficult,” the official IRNA news agency said. “No agreement will be reached without securing the rights of the Iranian nation” on its nuclear programme and uranium enrichment, he added. Israel and the West suspect Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons capability alongside its uranium enrichment programme, which Tehran insists is entirely peaceful.
Israel has argued that Western powers can get a better deal if they maintain or even ratchet up the sanctions, which have exacted a heavy toll on Iran’s economy.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who welcomed French President Francois Hollande to Israel yesterday, said he would also discuss the matter with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Jerusalem on Friday.
“I hope we’ll be able to convince our friends this week and in the following days to get a much better deal. It can be achieved,” he said, insisting on the need to put pressure on Iran. “I’m concerned, gravely concerned, that this deal will go through and in one stroke of the pen, it will reduce the sanctions on Iran—sanctions that took years to put in place—and in return for this, Iran gives practically nothing,” Netanyahu said. “Iran’s dream deal is the world’s nightmare.”
Hollande laid down four demands “to guarantee any agreement” with Iran — put all the Iranian nuclear installations under international supervision, right now. Second point: suspend enrichment to 20 percent. Thirdly: to reduce the existing stock. And finally, to halt construction of the Arak (heavy water) plant. AFP
