One-Stage Nuclear Deal Sole Option: Iran’s Zarif
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated that the country will agree to sign only a single-stage nuclear deal with world powers.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) will finalize the text of a single agreement whenever their views are closer together, the top Iranian negotiator said.
He made it clear that “small, temporary and separate” deals are not in the interests of either side.
Zarif also underlined that resorting to sanctions as a leverage obstructs the way to the comprehensive agreement.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (also known as P5+1 and E3+3) are in talks to hammer out a final agreement to end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has also affirmed that any nuclear deal between Iran and world powers should be implementable, stressing that "no deal will be better than a bad one," including a two-phased agreement.
Since Friday, negotiators from Iran and the US have started a new round of bilateral talks on Tehran’s nuclear energy program in Geneva at the level of deputy foreign ministers.
Zarif joined the talks on Saturday, while US Secretary of State John Kerry is also expected to arrive in Switzerland for nuclear talks.