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Iran Ready to Agree Nuclear Program Deal

Iran Ready to Agree Nuclear Program Deal
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Τετ, 6 Νοεμβρίου 2013 - 16:32
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday said Iran was ready to reach an agreement on Tehran's nuclear program during upcoming talks in Geneva without offering details on how a deal might be reached.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday said Iran was ready to reach an agreement on Tehran 's nuclear program during upcoming talks in Geneva without offering details on how a deal might be reached.

Mr. Zarif seized on a series of interviews with French media during a two-day visit to Paris to turn up pressure on Western countries, including the U.S. and France, which remain wary about whether Tehran is ready to provide guarantees that its nuclear program won't be used for military purposes. On Thursday, Mr. Zarif is due to hold talks on the program with negotiators from the U.S. , Russia , China , the U.K. , France and Germany .

"We could conclude this week in Geneva ," Mr. Zarif told daily Le Monde in an interview published Wednesday afternoon. "If that's not the case, it's not a disaster as long as we make progress," he added.

World powers taking part in the talks are seeking to reach a deal that freezes Tehran 's nuclear program in exchange for some relief to economic sanctions that have crippled Iran 's economy. In particular, Western officials aim to stop Iran from enriching enough uranium to create a nuclear weapon.

Iran , however, insists that the nuclear program, including the enrichment, is for civil use and aims to bring an end to sanctions that have paralyzed the country's banking and oil industries.

Any plan to relax the sanctions against Iran is likely to meet stiff opposition from Israel , which asserts that Tehran is only months away from developing a nuclear weapon. Jerusalem and some members of the U.S. Congress consider the sanctions the only way to maintain pressure on Iran to abandon its nuclear program.

A recent U.N. report stating that Iran had stock piled 186 kilograms of uranium enriched to 20% "seems exact," Mr. Zarif told Le Monde. Nuclear arms experts say 240-250 kg of enriched uranium would be needed for a bomb.

Mr. Zarif, who met with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in Paris Tuesday evening, struck a defiant tone when Le Monde asked him if Tehran was ready to hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium.

"The West must stop dictating their solutions," Mr. Zarif said. "Let's seek mutually acceptable solutions that keep the Iranian program as transparent as possible and help ensure it remains peaceful."

Mr. Zarif also highlighted an atmosphere of distrust between Tehran and the West that has poisoned previous diplomatic efforts.

"We have already defined from our perspective what the common objective is: An Iranian nuclear project, including enrichment, which remains exclusively peaceful," he said in an interview with broadcaster France 24.

The election of Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, a perceived moderate who has been making overtures to Western skeptics, has also created a rare diplomatic window to reach an agreement, Mr. Zarif said.

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