Laurent Fabius, France’s foreign minister, on Monday rejected claims that his country had scuppered an agreement over Iran’s nuclear programme and insisted that western powers and Tehran were “not far” from reaching a deal.
Speaking to France’s Europe 1 radio station, Mr Fabius said: “We [France] are not closed . . . we want a deal for regional and international security.” But he added, “France is neither isolated nor a country that follows the herd. It is independent and works for peace.”
The proposed deal involved Iran halting key parts of its nuclear programme, which many in the west fear is close to being able to produce a nuclear weapon, in return for relief from international sanctions.His comments came barely 24 hours after six world powers meeting in Geneva with Iran failed to reach agreement over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in what would have been the first such accord in a decade.
Negotiations between Iran and the six world powers, known as the five plus one talks, – together with France, these include the US, UK, Germany, China and Russia – are due to resume on November 20.
But the differences after the three days of talks underlined the obstacles in reaching a lasting agreement.
Diplomats said that one of the two main sticking points was the Arak heavy water reactor south east of Tehran. Western diplomats have long feared that the reactor could produce enough plutonium to give Iran a nuclear bomb at a later date unless its operations are halted.
A second is Iran’s stockpile of more highly enriched uranium, which is close to weapons grade. Iran has said that it will stop production of more highly enriched uranium at the 20 per cent concentration. But it is unclear whether it is prepared to convert its stockpile of 20 per cent uranium into a form that could not be used to make a nuclear weapon.
On Sunday, Iran’s foreign minister indirectly blamed France for blocking the potential deal. “There was a possibility to reach an agreement with the majority of five plus one but there was a need to have the consent of all and as you have heard . . . one of the delegations had some problems,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a Facebook post.
But on Monday, Mr Fabius voiced tempered optimism about an eventual deal. “We have already advanced a lot,” he said. “We are not far from an accord.” He did not go into detail on where a final deal would lie but he suggested that there had to be concrete commitments from Tehran over its enriched uranium stockpile and over its heavy water plant.
Even so, senior members of the US Congress insisted on Sunday they would push ahead with a new round of sanctions on Iranian oil exports. John Kerry, US secretary of state, was forced on to the defensive at home by the storm of criticism from key allies and from Congress over the Obama administration’s approach.
Although the administration has urged Congress to hold off on new sanctions, Robert Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat who chairs the Senate foreign affairs committee, said the upper house would “move forward” on a bill to cut further Iranian oil exports.
The bill has already passed the House of Representatives.
Mr Menendez said any agreement needed to involve an Iranian commitment to halt all enrichment of uranium. “We seem to want the deal almost more than the Iranians,” he said. “And you can’t want the deal more than the Iranians, especially when the Iranians are on the ropes.”
Speaking to France’s Europe 1 radio station, Mr Fabius said: “We [France] are not closed . . . we want a deal for regional and international security.” But he added, “France is neither isolated nor a country that follows the herd. It is independent and works for peace.”
The proposed deal involved Iran halting key parts of its nuclear programme, which many in the west fear is close to being able to produce a nuclear weapon, in return for relief from international sanctions.His comments came barely 24 hours after six world powers meeting in Geneva with Iran failed to reach agreement over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in what would have been the first such accord in a decade.
Negotiations between Iran and the six world powers, known as the five plus one talks, – together with France, these include the US, UK, Germany, China and Russia – are due to resume on November 20.
But the differences after the three days of talks underlined the obstacles in reaching a lasting agreement.
Diplomats said that one of the two main sticking points was the Arak heavy water reactor south east of Tehran. Western diplomats have long feared that the reactor could produce enough plutonium to give Iran a nuclear bomb at a later date unless its operations are halted.
A second is Iran’s stockpile of more highly enriched uranium, which is close to weapons grade. Iran has said that it will stop production of more highly enriched uranium at the 20 per cent concentration. But it is unclear whether it is prepared to convert its stockpile of 20 per cent uranium into a form that could not be used to make a nuclear weapon.
On Sunday, Iran’s foreign minister indirectly blamed France for blocking the potential deal. “There was a possibility to reach an agreement with the majority of five plus one but there was a need to have the consent of all and as you have heard . . . one of the delegations had some problems,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a Facebook post.
But on Monday, Mr Fabius voiced tempered optimism about an eventual deal. “We have already advanced a lot,” he said. “We are not far from an accord.” He did not go into detail on where a final deal would lie but he suggested that there had to be concrete commitments from Tehran over its enriched uranium stockpile and over its heavy water plant.
Even so, senior members of the US Congress insisted on Sunday they would push ahead with a new round of sanctions on Iranian oil exports. John Kerry, US secretary of state, was forced on to the defensive at home by the storm of criticism from key allies and from Congress over the Obama administration’s approach.
Although the administration has urged Congress to hold off on new sanctions, Robert Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat who chairs the Senate foreign affairs committee, said the upper house would “move forward” on a bill to cut further Iranian oil exports.
The bill has already passed the House of Representatives.
Mr Menendez said any agreement needed to involve an Iranian commitment to halt all enrichment of uranium. “We seem to want the deal almost more than the Iranians,” he said. “And you can’t want the deal more than the Iranians, especially when the Iranians are on the ropes.”
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