No Nuclear Deal If US Breaches Commitments: Iranian Cleric
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A top Iranian cleric warned that even the slightest breach of commitment on the part of the US would undermine the chances of a final agreement on Tehran's peaceful nuclear program.
Addressing worshippers during Friday prayers in Tehran, Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani warned that Washington must not make the slightest violation of its undertakings or else there would be no chance of a final agreement in the nuclear negotiations between Iran and world powers.
He underlined that Iran speaks and acts sincerely and favors logic, urging the US to be earnest in the nuclear talks with Iran as well.
Ayatollah Movahedi Kermani further said any accord on Iran's nuclear energy program that would impede the country's development will be rejected.
He also dismissed the notion that Iran would allow foreign access to places that are related to the country's security.
While Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) are in talks to reach a lasting accord on Tehran's nuclear energy program, the Islamic Republic insists that a possible deal should not put restrictions on research and development activities.
Back on April 9, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei voiced opposition to any deal that would subject Iran to "unconventional" monitoring and would make it a special case in the world, underlining that monitoring of Iran's peaceful nuclear program should be conventional, as it is with other countries.
Ensuring no limits on Iran's "scientific and technical developments in different dimensions" was another requirement that the Leader emphasized a deal must include.
In their latest round of talks, on April 2, Iran and the Group 5+1 (also known as the P5+1 or E3+3) reached a framework nuclear agreement after more than a week of intensive negotiations in Lausanne, Switzerland, with both sides committed to push for a final, comprehensive accord until the end of June.
The framework provides a series of solutions that will be the basis of a comprehensive joint plan of action.
The two sides are scheduled to resume the negotiations on April 22 in the Austrian capital of Vienna.
