PARIS: Iran supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s latest controversial comments on Israel “complicate” ongoing negotiations on Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme, a French government spokeswoman said yesterday.
“Khamenei’s comments are unacceptable and complicate negotiations,” Najat Vallaud-Belkacem told reporters.
She was referring to Khamenei’s references to arch-foe Israel earlier yesterday as being “doomed to collapse”, “the rabid dog” of the Middle East, and with leaders “not worthy” of being called “human”.
“The (Israeli) Zionist regime is a regime whose pillars are extremely shaky and is doomed to collapse,” Khamenei told commanders of the hardline Basij militia force in Tehran.
“Any phenomenon that is created by force cannot endure,” he said in comments broadcast live on state television.
Speaking after President Francois Hollande held his weekly cabinet meeting, Vallaud-Belkacem said that France would continue to be “firm but not closed” at the talks, which kicked off in Geneva yesterday. The so-called P5+1 group — which includes the United States, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany — are set to try and reach a deal with Iran to freeze or curb its nuclear activities in exchange for some relief from international sanctions.
The last round of talks with Iran that ended on November 10 came tantalisingly close to a framework agreement, but failed to reach a deal due to French concerns over some of the issues on the table.
Since then, Hollande has visited Israel and pledged that sanctions on Iran will remain in place as long as Paris is not convinced that Tehran has definitively renounced its programme. AFP
