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Iran’s paramount leader suggested yesterday he could back a fair nuclear accord with world powers in which neither side got everything it wanted, boosting Iranian negotiators under fire from hardliners at home opposed to rapprochement with the West.“I would go along with any agreement that could be made. Of course, I’m not for a bad deal. No agreement is better than an agreement which runs contrary to our nation’s interests,” clerical Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement issued by his office carried by ISNA news agency.
But in a message that appeared to back up the conciliatory approach of President Hassan Rouhani, who revived diplomacy with Western powers soon after his landslide election in 2013, Khamenei said: “As the president (has) said, negotiations mean reaching a common point. Therefore, the other party … shouldn’t expect its illogical expectations to be materialised.
“This means that one side wouldn’t end up getting all it wants,” said Khamenei, in office since 1989 and long known for his rejectionist stances against detente with the West until he cleared Rouhani to try to end the long-running nuclear dispute with the West, which has cost Iran international isolation.
However, Khamenei, in a remark apparently meant to keep powerful hardline loyalists on side, reiterated: “The Iranian nation will not accept any excessive demands and illogical behaviour.”
The West suspects Iran of covertly seeking a nuclear weapons capability instead of, as the major oil producer maintains, an alternative civilian energy source through its enrichment of uranium. Iran denies having any nuclear arms agenda.
A comprehensive nuclear deal is seen as crucial to reducing the risk of a wider Middle East war, at a time when Iran is deeply involved in conflicts in Syria and Iraq. After nearly a year of talks, negotiators failed for the second time in November to meet a self-imposed deadline for an agreement.
Khamenei added that he “firmly” backed a continuation of the negotiations and called for a single-stage, “detailed” agreement – suggesting Tehran still wanted sanctions lifted swiftly rather than gradually as the powers want.
His comments coincided with a series of meetings between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and top diplomats from the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France at the annual high-profile Munich Security Conference.
Zarif described this as a “very serious discussion”.
Negotiators have set a June 30 final deadline for a deal to end the 12-year stand-off over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and limit its nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions, after giving themselves a seven-month extension last November.- Reuters.
Online Reporter