The New York Times misunderstood US stance on talks

Dismissing news by some Western media about a new US nuclear plan, an official close to Iran’s nuclear negotiating team told Entekhab [Choice] website that The New York Times had a misunderstanding of the US stance on the talks.

He went on to say that over the past few days, there has been a positive, constructive atmosphere prevailing in the talks, although disagreements over some key matters persist and the two sides are trying to winnow them down.

“Unfortunately, some media seek to poison the atmosphere of the talks,” the official added.

Referring to the recent article by The New York Times – U.S. Hopes Face-Saving Plan Offers a Path to a Nuclear Pact with Iran on September 19, 2014 – the official said the newspaper acknowledged that it had quoted some American sources about the centrifuges. However, such claims are false and are not a proper understanding of where America stands on the nuclear talks.

“Interestingly, overwhelmed by such a commotion of media, some Senate lawmakers wrote a letter to President Obama and lashed out at him. In fact, it’s crystal clear that there is no affinity between such reports and what is going on in the negotiations, and therefore they are nothing but media attempts to disturb the atmosphere of the talks,” he pointed out.

It’s worth noting that a few days ago, The New York Times and The Associated Press released a report on a new US plan which requires Iran to disconnect enriching machines from feeds of uranium. The unsubstantiated plan would let Iran have its centrifuges only if many of the pipes that connect the nuclear centrifuges are taken away.