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Hague says Iran needs to be realistic as marathon nuclear talks begin
With talks between the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) and Iran resuming yesterday in Vienna, Foreign Secretary William Hague warned that a long-term deal over Tehran’s nuclear programme is far from certain.
Iran and the P5+1 concluded a six-month agreement in Geneva in November, which saw Tehran reduce its stockpile of enriched uranium in return for a loosening of selected sanctions. Both sides are now looking to broker a longer-term settlement, although wide gaps remain, especially over the number of enrichment centrifuges Iran will be allowed to maintain. Both sides have agreed to a 20 July deadline to reach such an agreement. Talks which began yesterday are expected to continue up until the deadline itself.
Hague yesterday described the latest negotiations as a “crucial moment.” However, he explained that to reach a resolution, “Iran will need to be realistic about the steps required to resolve the international community’s serious concerns.” He also warned that “We will not accept a deal at any price. A deal that does not provide sufficient assurances that Iran will not develop a nuclear weapon is not in the interests of the UK, the region or the international community.”
Hague also cautioned that “Achieving an agreement is far from certain” and that “significant differences remain” between the two sides “which are yet to be bridged.” However, he added that “if Iran is willing to take the steps needed” it will be “treated like any other non-nuclear weapons state.”
Hague’s comments come two days after US Secretary of State John Kerry also warned of “substantial gaps” in a Washington Post op-ed. Kerry outlined “a discrepancy… between Iran’s professed intent with respect to its nuclear program and the actual content of that program to date.” Earlier this week, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Sky News that the P5+1 must make a “good or no deal,” warning that Iran must not be allowed “to keep the materials and the means to make nuclear weapons.”
Iran is subject to heavy international sanctions and multiple UN Security Council resolutions having been repeatedly caught building extensive secret nuclear facilities in breach of its Non-Proliferation Treaty commitments.