A source close to Iran’s negotiating team in Vienna said that terms of a nuclear deal were not yet agreed to, Iran’s semi-official news agency Fars claimed on Sunday, disputing a report by the Associated Press (AP) earlier in the day.
An Iranian official has said that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will address the nation tonight, but there’s no indication of when.
The source cited by Fars further emphasized that any final deal will have to observe Iran’s “redlines,” which include a demand for immediate and complete sanctions relief.
“According to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, all sanctions against Iran are terminated and Iran will no more be recognized as a sanctioned nation,” the source said, and added, “The JCPA only envisages a set of temporary restrictions that will be removed after a limited and logical period of time, as stated earlier by the Iranian Supreme Leader.”
“All economic, financial and banking sanctions against Iran will be terminated for good on day one after the endorsement of the deal, again as the Iranian Supreme Leader has demanded.”
According to the source, the agreement will also lift the arms embargo imposed on Iran. This would make it easier for Iran to arm its allies, including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Fars’ report aligns with another in Iran’s official IRNA news agency, which cited Iran’s chief negotiator, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, saying that “more work was needed on Monday to close a deal.” Similarly, Reuters quoted Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani saying, “It might seem we have reached the top of the mountain. But no, there are still steps needed to be taken. Even if we fail … we have performed our duty.”
The AP report that a deal could be finalized Sunday followed a week of increasing Iranian agitation against the United States, including the beginning of Iranian campaign to blame the United States for the failure of talks, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
Echoing the remarks of a senior Iranian official who briefed American reporters on Thursday, Mr. Zarif said that Iran would “never leave the negotiating table” and that the other side was to blame for the delays.
“Unfortunately, we are witnessing many changes of stances, excessive demands and also different stances of several P5-plus-1 member states,” he said of his negotiating counterparts: the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.
The remarks illustrate the potential for nastiness if a deal is not reached in the coming days. Analysts said the Iranian leadership would do everything possible to convince the public that the United States would be responsible for any breakdown in the talks.
On Saturday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a group of university students that even if a deal was reached, they should “Get ready to continue your fight against the global arrogance. The US is the true embodiment of the global arrogance.”
The increase in anti-American rhetoric from Iranian officials prompted columnist Sohrab Ahmari of The Wall Street Journal to suggest, “Since Secretary of State John Kerry and his fellow negotiators seem to be having so much trouble getting concessions from Iran on large matters, maybe it would be better to start small: See if the regime would agree to knock off the calls to destroy the U.S. and Israel.”
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