Zarif: Excessive Demands Could Thwart Nuclear Deal
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s foreign minister and senior nuclear negotiator warned that “excessive demands” by the other side could prevent Tehran and six world powers from reaching a comprehensive nuclear deal.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to reach a solution and has offered logical proposals in this regard but the excessive demands by the other side could thwart the deal and in that case the world would come to know (who made) the negotiations reach an impasse,” Zarif said.
The senior Iranian diplomat made the comments in a meeting with Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Marcelino Medina GonzalezIn Tehran.
This comes less than a week before a new round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) are scheduled to hold a fresh round of talks on Tehran’s nuclear energy program in the Austrian capital of Vienna on July 2.
The most recent round of negotiations was held in the Austrian city on June 16-20.
The whole talks are aimed at drafting a comprehensive deal to resolve the decade-long standoff over Tehran's peaceful nuclear energy program.
Iran and the six world powers inked an interim deal on Tehran’s nuclear program in Geneva last November, which came into force on January 20. The interim deal (the Joint Plan of Action) stipulates that over the course of six months (July 20), the parties will draw up a comprehensive nuclear deal which will lead to a lifting of the whole sanctions on the Islamic Republic.