Switzerland – Iran Says It Rejects Obama’s Demand For 10-Year Nuclear Work Halt

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    Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, left, speaks to journalist   after a bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry  for a new round of Nuclear  Talks, in Montreux, Switzerland, Tuesday, March 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Keystone,Jean-Christophe Bott)Switzerland – Iran on Tuesday rejected as “unacceptable” U.S. President Barack Obama’s demand that it freeze sensitive nuclear activities for at least 10 years, but said it would continue talks aimed at securing a deal, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported.

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    “Iran will not accept excessive and illogical demands,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying by Fars.

    “Obama’s stance … is expressed in unacceptable and threatening phrases … ,” he reportedly said, adding that negotiations underway in Switzerland would nonetheless carry on.

    Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sat down for a second day of meetings hours after Obama had told Reuters that Iran must commit to a verifiable halt of at least 10 years on sensitive nuclear work for a landmark atomic deal to be reached.

    The aim of the negotiations is to persuade Iran to restrain its nuclear program in exchange for relief from sanctions that have crippled the oil exporter’s economy.

    The United States and some of its allies, notably Israel, suspect Iran of using its civil nuclear program as a cover to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Iran denies this, saying it is for peaceful purposes such as generating electricity.

    Kerry and Zarif met in the Swiss lakeside town of Montreux as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to criticize the diplomacy in a speech to Congress in Washington.

    Despite the tough tone of Zarif’s remarks quoted by Fars, the Iranian struck a more conciliatory tone when he spoke briefly to reporters after about two hours of talks with Kerry.

    Asked if the two sides had reached an agreement, Zarif replied: “We’ll try, that’s why we are here.”

    “There is a seriousness that we need to move forward. As we have said all along, we need the necessary political will to understand that the only way to move forward is though negotiations,” he added.

    Speaking after the morning round of talks, Kerry told reporters: “We’re working away. Productively.”

    The two sides have set a deadline of late March to reach a framework agreement and of June for a comprehensive final settlement that would curb Iran’s nuclear activity to ensure it cannot be put to bomb making in return for the lifting of the economic sanctions.

    Iran wants a swift end to sanctions in any deal — one of the sticking points in the high-level negotiations.

    While the United States has played the lead role in the talks with Iran, it is representing five other major powers: Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — a group collectively known both as the P5+1 and the E3+3.

    Speaking in Geneva, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier sounded an upbeat note, saying the negotiations had made more progress in the past year than in the previous decade.

    “The talks between the E3+3 and Iran are also advancing well,” he told the U.N.-backed Conference on Disarmament. “I would even go so far as to say that in 10 years of negotiations, we never achieved as much progress as we have made this year.”


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    3 Comments
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    LionofZion
    LionofZion
    9 years ago

    Reading this, it appears that Bibi might just pull it off.
    Despite the wisdom of the experts, Bibi has Obama’s back here. The US can claim to the Iranians that their is pressure for the 10 year agreement and insist that Iran goes along. Hopefully, being the intransient Muslims that they are, Iran digs units heals, and in the end….no deal, thanks to the meshuguna from Jerusalem.
    If and when that happens, it will be incumbent on the posters at VIN to ask Mechila for the Loshon Hora they have posted about their fellow Yid and leader.

    9 years ago

    What sane American would trust or negotiate with a nation that (even today) indoctrinates it’s leaders and citizens to chant “DEATH TO
    AMERICA”? Could it be hatred is so blind and deaf that they only see and hear “DEATH TO ISRAEL”?

    Butterfly
    Butterfly
    9 years ago

    What happens after 10 years?? All H–L breaks loose!! We have a different President, start from square 1, new ayatollah, and NEW RULES!!