Iran: P5+1 should not exaggerate nuclear demands
November 19, 2014, 4:31 pm

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the negotiating team were seen as heroes by many in Iran after last year’s nuclear talks breakthrough [Xinhua]

Meeting in Vienna a year after a breakthrough agreement that curbs Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for an easing of oil and trade sanctions, the P5+1 are expected to press Tehran for tough concessions.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who will not arrive in Vienna until Thursday, said: “It is imperative that Iran works with us with all possible effort to prove to the world that the program.”

His British counterpart Philip Hammond said Tehran should show more “flexibility”.

But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned the six powers not to “exaggerate” their demands.

“If, because of excessive demands… we don’t get a result, then the world will understand that the Islamic Republic sought a solution, a compromise and a constructive agreement and that it will not renounce its rights and the greatness of the nation,” he told the media in Vienna on Tuesday.

Much is at stake during this final round; Iran hopes to secure a deal that would allow it access to nearly $8 billion in frozen assets from oil sales made before punitive sanctions went into full effect in the past few years.

Among some of the concessions made by the Islamic Republic were invitations for international inspectors to visit Iranian nuclear sites.

Last year’s inspection of Arak – a heavy water production site, which has not been seen by experts since 2011 – was a first step toward meeting the tenets of the interim agreement reached by Iran and world powers in Geneva in November 2013.

“This is a very critical week obviously in Iran negotiations,” Kerry said in London earlier in the week.

“We hope we get there but we can’t make any predictions.”

Meanwhile, Iranian media reported that the country’s deputy foreign minister held a bilateral meeting with US State Department officials. Although no details of the talks were provided, both sides appear to want to continue talks until the November 24 deadline.

Both sides have not denied reports of the possibility of a bilateral meeting between Kerry and Zarif later this week.

Source: Agencies