by Eli Leon, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
France won't sign deal unless Tehran provides inspectors access to all installations • Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rules out international inspection of Iran's military sites • U.S. insists on June 30 deadline, says not contemplating extension.
Iranian Foreign Minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif in a leaked video showing him arguing with
hard-line lawmaker Mahdi Kouchakzadeh
France warned on Wednesday it
was ready to block a final deal between Iran and the six major powers on
Iran's nuclear program unless Tehran provided inspectors access to all
installations, including military sites.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
last week ruled out international inspection of Iran's military sites or
access to nuclear scientists under any agreement. Iran's military
leaders echoed his remarks.
Credit: Reuters
"France will not accept [a deal] if it is not clear that inspections can be done at all Iranian installations, including military sites," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told lawmakers in Paris.
As talks resumed in Vienna on Wednesday to
bridge gaps in negotiating positions before a June 30 deadline, the
United States said it was not considering an extension, despite comments
from France and Iran indicating wiggle room.
"We're not contemplating any extension beyond
June 30," State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke told reporters in
Washington, saying the United States believed it was possible to meet
the self-imposed deadline.
To that end, U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry will meet his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in Geneva
on May 30. Lead U.S. negotiator Wendy Sherman flew to Vienna on
Wednesday for nuclear talks between Iran and the major powers and will
join Kerry in Geneva before resuming talks in the Austrian capital.
Iran's state TV quoted senior nuclear
negotiator Abbas Araqchi as saying the deadline could be extended,
echoing comments by France's ambassador to the United States. GĂ©rard
Araud said on Tuesday that a deal was not likely by June 30 because
technical details would still need to be resolved.
"The deadline might be extended and the talks
might continue after the June 30 [deadline]," Araqchi said. "We are not
bound to a specific time. We want a good deal that covers our demands."
France is considered to be demanding more
stringent restrictions on the Iranians under any deal than the other
Western delegations, officials said, although U.S. officials have
cautioned that France's position privately is not as tough as it is
publicly.
Pace Slows
A tentative agreement was reached between
Iran, the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China on
April 2, but several issues remain unresolved.
Among them are the pace of easing Western
sanctions imposed over the Iranian program and the monitoring and
verification measures to ensure Iran could not pursue a clandestine
nuclear weapons program.
Iran denies any ambition to develop nuclear weapons and says its program is purely peaceful.
"The talks are serious, complicated and
detailed. The pace of talks is slow as we have entered final stages,"
Araqchi said upon his arrival in Vienna, state TV reported.
Speaking a day after meeting the head of the
U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency in Paris, Fabius also appeared
to suggest differences with other members of the P5+1, saying he hoped
all of them would adopt France's position.
"'Yes' to an agreement, but not to an
agreement that will enable Iran to have the atomic bomb. That is the
position of France, which is independent and peaceful," he said.
Meanwhile, amid the new round of Iran nuclear
talks, Iranians have been captivated this week by a leaked video showing
a vehement argument between a hard-line lawmaker and the country's
foreign minister.
Differing statements from Iranian officials
over what's acceptable for Tehran at the talks with six world powers
have accompanied the negotiations since the start of international
attempts nearly a decade ago to reach a diplomatic solution over Iran's
contested nuclear program. Hard-liners fear that negotiators are
betraying Iran's interests by being too conciliatory, while moderates
chastise their opponents for jeopardizing the talks with unrealistic
demands.
But Iranians usually are not privy to the kind
of bitter recriminations that a video posted on social media Monday has
revealed. It shows Zarif and hard-line lawmaker Mahdi Kouchakzadeh in a
heated exchange, apparently at the end of a closed session of
parliament.
Khamenei "calls you a traitor," Kouchakzadeh says. "I say this from his tongue."
But Zarif, his face red with anger, berates the lawmaker for daring to speak for Khamenei.
"You are damned dead wrong," he declares.\
The footage appears to have been filmed with a
mobile phone and leaked by a lawmaker. Several legislators are
demanding that the incident be investigated and the leaker be
prosecuted.
The video was posted with the talks moved closer to the
June 30 deadline. As they resumed Wednesday in Vienna, Khamenei
indirectly backed Zarif, who has been Iran's lead negotiator at previous
sessions and is expected to rejoin the negotiators at a later stage.
Eli Leon, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=25779 Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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