Either full deal or no deal: Iran

Iran’s foreign minister says the country will accept either an overarching nuclear agreement or no agreement at all.

Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

Speaking in the Swiss city of Geneva on Saturday, Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tehran would not approve of an “incomplete and vague” nuclear accord, but rather a “complete agreement” should be struck.

“No other deal will be reached before a complete agreement is clinched,” said the top diplomat.

The comments came hours after his American counterpart John Kerry said that there were still “significant gaps” in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.

Kerry also said US President Barack Obama had “no inclination whatsoever” to extend the talks facing a March 31 deadline for agreement on the political framework.

Zarif also referred to the discussions at the deputy ministerial level between the Islamic Republic and the United States in Geneva on Friday.

“The deputies had good discussions, but no particular agreement has been made on the issues [at hand].”

On Friday, representatives of Iran and the US kicked off a fresh round of intensive talks on Tehran’s nuclear program in Geneva to narrow remaining gaps ahead of the March 31 deadline for a final agreement.

Zarif and Kerry are scheduled to join the talks on Sunday and hold discussions for two days.

Iran and P5+1– Britain, France, China, Russia, and the United States plus Germany – are seeking to seal a high-profile political deal by the end of March and to confirm the full technical details of the accord by July 1.

The scale of Iran’s uranium enrichment and the timetable for the removal of anti-Iran sanctions are seen as the major stumbling blocks in the talks.

Iran has so far suspended some of its enrichment program in return for certain sanctions relief.

Emad Askarieh

Emad Askarieh has worked as a journalist since 2002. The main focus of his work is foreign policy and world diplomacy. He started his career at Iran Front Page Media Group, and is currently serving as the World Editor and the Vice-President for Executive Affairs at the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website.