Iran pressures US over nuclear talks delay
Iran has raised the stakes in nuclear talks with world powers on Thursday, saying the United States had to drop “unacceptable proposals” just as the prospects of reaching an accord were thrown into uncertainty by last-minute Russian demands.
Eleven months of talks to restore a 2015 nuclear deal, which lifted sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear programme, have reached their final stages.
But they stalled last week when Moscow demanded written guarantees from the US that Western sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine would not affect its trade with Iran.
Iranian chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani returned to Vienna on Wednesday after holding consultations in Tehran and met the coordinator of the talks, Enrique Mora of the European Union.
Mora broke off informal meetings on Monday, saying the time had come for political decisions to be taken to end the negotiations.
Several Iranian officials appeared to toughen Tehran’s stance on Thursday. After months of remaining silent in the negotiations, Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying Iran would not be naive and bow to pressure to reduce its defensive power, regional presence and progress in nuclear technology.
“Regional presence gives us strategic depth and more power. Why should we give it up? Scientific progress in the nuclear field is related to our future needs, and if we give that up, will anyone help us in the future?” he said.
His top security official Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, on Twitter accused the US of not taking the necessary decisions, which was making the talks more complicated.
Four Western diplomats had told Reuters that the broad outline of a deal had been finalised and that there were only minor adjustments to be made. They insisted that Russia was now the main obstacle.
Source: al jazeeranews
