Chronicle Editor
Tehran, Iran — Iran’s foreign ministry has rejected reports of the country’s willingness to “compromise” its stance in ongoing indirect negotiations with the United States to restore its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said late Saturday that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made no mention of compromise to Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, when they met in Tehran earlier this month.
Khamenei told the emir “we have always said the negotiations must yield results, not waste time”, and “the Americans know what they need to do regarding this”, Khatibzadeh told the semi-official Tasnim news website.
“It is very clear from the context of the leader’s remarks that the ball is in the US court, which must make wise political decisions to fulfil its obligations,” he said.
The comments come after Qatar’s foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, was quoted as saying in the German newspaper Handelsblatt that the “Iranian leadership” had expressed readiness for compromise concerning “the Iranian nuclear file”.
Khatibzadeh suggested a mistranslation of comments may have occurred.
Qatar’s foreign ministry yesterday said the minister was misquoted about the “compromise” comments. On Friday, Sheikh Tamim had expressed optimism during a Press conference in Germany that Iran and the US can reach an agreement on the nuclear deal, and reiterated Qatar’s readiness to assist.
Majed Mohammad al-Ansari, spokesman for Qatar’s foreign affairs ministry, said on Saturday that Doha is “very optimistic” about progress in the nuclear talks to achieve “peace and stability in the Gulf region”.
“We hope an agreement that satisfies all parties and guarantees Iran’s right to peaceful use of nuclear energy will be reached as soon as possible,” al-Ansari said. — Al Jazeera.
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Londile Moyo