by Times of Israel Staff
France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Saturday that Paris is pushing for a nuclear deal with Iran that would ensure Tehran would not be able to build an atomic weapon in the future.French FM unhappy with emerging accord, says it must be sufficiently ‘robust’ to win approval of regional countries, prevent arms race
“France
wants an agreement, but a robust one that really guarantees that Iran
can have access to civilian nuclear power, but not the atomic bomb,”
Fabius told Europe 1 radio on Saturday.
The French FM added that “if the accord is not
sufficiently solid then regional countries would say it’s not serious
enough, so we are also going to get the nuclear weapon, and that would
lead to an extremely dangerous nuclear proliferation.”
France has taken a tougher line on an Iran
deal almost from the beginning, insisting on significant concessions
from Tehran in the framework of an agreement.
In the recent round of talks in Switzerland
this weekend, cut short Friday because of the death of Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani’s mother, Fabius reportedly called the French delegation
to make sure no more concessions were made, Reuters reported.
French diplomats have been pressing their
counterparts not to give in on key elements, such as the easing of
sanctions before serious progress is made, and arguing that an
upcoming deadline was an “artificial” date, the Wall Street Journal reported. The P5+1, France argues, should be willing to press Tehran for a better deal and wait, if necessary.
US Secretary of State John Kerry was headed to
London Saturday to meet with his Europeans counterparts for a briefing
on Iran nuclear negotiations
The US’s top diplomat was expected to discuss
France’s strong reservations. Paris would like to see only a symbolic
easing of punitive measures until an agreement is inked, according to
reports.
US President Barack Obama called French
President Francois Hollande on Friday to discuss the disagreement
between the two allies.
The presidents reaffirmed their commitment to a
deal “while noting that Iran must take steps to resolve several
remaining issues,” the White House said in a statement.
Talks are set to resume next week, according
to Iranian officials, only five days before a March 31 target date for a
political framework.
On Friday, Iran and the six world powers met
to attempt to iron out their remaining differences over the outline of a
deal on Iran’s nuclear program.
The mooted agreement, due to be finalized by
July, is aimed at convincing the world after a standoff now in its 13th
year that Iran won’t build nuclear weapons under the guise of its
civilian program.
The highly complex deal would likely involve
Iran reducing in scope its nuclear activities, allowing ultra-tight
inspections, exporting nuclear material and limiting development of new
nuclear machinery.
In exchange, Iran, which denies wanting
nuclear weapons, would be granted staggered relief from the mountain of
painful sanctions that have strangled its oil exports and hammered its
economy.
Negotiators missed two deadlines last July and
November for a deal but the pressures in Washington — where Republicans
are teeing up new sanctions legislation — all but rule out a new
extension, experts say.
Both Kerry and Zarif on Thursday spoke of
“progress” in the talks, but both sides have said that there remain
considerable gaps still to bridge.
In earlier indications of a building deal,
officials told the AP Thursday that the United States and Iran were
drafting elements of a deal that commits Tehran to a 40-percent cut in
the number of machines it could use to make an atomic bomb. In return,
the Iranians would get quick relief from some crippling economic
sanctions and a partial lift of a UN embargo on conventional arms.
Agreement on those details of Iran’s
uranium-enrichment program could signal a breakthrough for a larger deal
aimed at containing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear activities.
Obama appealed to Tehran Friday to seize a “historic” opportunity and begin a “brighter future”.
In a Nowruz (Persian New Year) video address,
Obama said that a “reasonable nuclear deal… can help open the door to a
brighter future for you, the Iranian people.”
“I believe that our nations have a historic
opportunity to resolve this issue peacefully — an opportunity we should
not miss,” added Obama.
In an apparent response, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said it was the other side that had to make a decision.
“Iranians have already made their choice:
engage with dignity. It’s high time for the US and its allies to chose:
pressure or agreement,” Zarif wrote in a message posted on his official
Twitter account.
AP and AFP contributed to this report.
Times of Israel Staff
Source: http://www.timesofisrael.com/france-nuclear-deal-must-guarantee-iran-cant-get-bomb/
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