Reuters/Athens
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif said yesterday he hoped Tehran and world powers would reach a final nuclear deal “within a reasonable period of time” but this would be hard if the other side stuck to what he called excessive demands.
Iran, the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China reached a tentative framework for a nuclear pact on April 2 but several issues remain unresolved. They have a self-imposed June 30 deadline to arrive at a comprehensive agreement.
“If the other side respects what has been agreed in Lausanne and tries to draft, based on mutual respect, a comprehensive agreement with Iran that is sustainable..., then we can meet any deadline,” Zarif said after meeting his Greek counterpart.
“If people insist on excessive demands, on renegotiation, then it will be difficult to envisage an agreement even without a deadline,” he said in Athens.
Iranian state television reported on Wednesday that the June 30 deadline might be extended. But the US said it was not considering an extension despite comments from France and Iran indicating there was wiggle room. Zarif is expected to meet his US counterpart John Kerry in Geneva tomorrow.
“I am hopeful we will reach a final conclusion within a reasonable period of time,” Zarif said. “In order to do that people need to be realistic, people need to have their foot in reality, not in illusions.”
He said Iran could not accept any solution that is “less than respectful, less than dignified.
“We can only have agreements in which both sides can claim that they have achieved positive results. You need to either win together, or lose together. “Iran, with millennia of history, will not be intimidated.”
