Iran has rejected as “unacceptable” a demand by US President Barack Obama that it freeze sensitive nuclear activities for at least 10 years. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif announced that Iran’s nuclear program will carry on, but his country will also continue the talks in Switzerland to secure a deal.
According to the Iranian diplomat, cited by Reuters, Obama spoke in “unacceptable and threatening” terms and his demands were “excessive and illogical”.
President Obama said that Iran must stop its sensitive nuclear work for at least 10 years in order for a landmark atomic deal to be reached. In exchange, he offered some relief from the sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy. The message was carried by US Secretary of State John Kerry who met Zarif for a second day of talks in the Swiss town of Montreux.
But with a more conciliatory tone, the Iranian official told reporters that the negotiations must continue.
“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.
The latest round of negotiations between the two sides took place hours before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in the Congress. He came prepared to criticize the diplomacy in Washington and to urge the congressmen to to oppose a deal. The visit rose the tensions, as US officials fear the sensitive negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program could be damaged by the Israeli leader’s aggressive rhetoric. Netanyahu already said last week that US and the other countries involved in the talks are “giving up” and “accepting” that Iran will have nuclear weapons. US Secretary of State John Kerry responded that the Israeli PM “may not be correct”.
US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, China and Iran have set a deadline of late March to reach a framework agreement and of June for a final settlement. Up until now, said the German Foreign Minister, the negotiations had made more progress in the past year than in the previous decade.