French Foreign Minister says Iran deal must guarantee no atomic bombMarch 21, 2015 - 13:22 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - France's Foreign Minister said on Saturday, March 21, that his country wanted an agreement over Iran's nuclear program that was sufficiently robust to guarantee that Tehran could not acquire an atomic bomb, Reuters reported. Iran and six world powers - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - suspended negotiations on a nuclear agreement on Friday and are set to meet again next week to break a deadlock over sensitive atomic research and lifting of sanctions. France has been demanding more stringent restrictions on the Iranians under any deal than the other Western delegations and at one point during the talks French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius phoned his team to ensure it made no more concessions, officials said. The Europeans and U.S. Secretary of State Kerry plan to meet in London on Saturday to help bridge differences, negotiators said, before the end-March deadline for a political framework agreement and a full nuclear deal by June 30. Officials have expressed concerns that the French might block a deal. "France wants an agreement, but a robust one that really guarantees that Iran can have access to civilian nuclear power, but not the atomic bomb," Fabius told Europe 1 radio on Saturday. Iran denies allegations from the Western powers and their allies that it harbors nuclear weapons ambitions. It wants all UN sanctions to be lifted immediately, including those targeting its nuclear program. While the talks have made progress over the past year, differences on sticking points are still wide enough to potentially prevent an agreement in the end. There was no breakthrough this week. Disagreements arose among the powers, with France insisting on a longer period of restrictions on Iran's nuclear work. It also opposed the idea of suspending some UN sanctions relatively quickly if a deal is struck. "This accord must be robust. Why? Because we have to protect ourselves from the eventuality of an Iranian atomic bomb," Fabius added on Saturday, according to Reuters. "But also if the accord is not sufficiently solid then regional countries would say it's not serious enough, so we are also going to get the nuclear weapon, and that would lead to an extremely dangerous nuclear proliferation." EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini denied on Friday there were divisions between Europe and the United States. "There is unity, there is unity on the fact that we want a deal, we want a good deal," she said in Brussels after talks with French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the talks would resume on Wednesday. Photo: AFP Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |