PHOTO: Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi
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Iran’s negotiators are maintaining an optimistic tone over nuclear talks with the 5+1 Powers, two days before the deadline for a deal, while insisting that Tehran’s “red lines” will be respected.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said from Vienna, in a live interview on State TV, “We had never advanced this far during the past talks.”
However, Araqchi pointed to continuing debate over remaining issues, saying that Iran is not bound by the July 7 deadline as it “will not accept a bad deal and is looking for an agreement that respects its red lines and the Iranian nation’s rights”.
Araqchi focused on the removal of financial restrictions on Iran under a deal, proclaiming, “On the day of the agreement, all economic and financial sanctions by the EU [European Union], the US, and the [UN] Security Council will be removed and we will take measures to meet commitments.”
Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia) have moved toward a compromise where a timetable for the lifting of sanctions will be linked to International Atomic Energy Agency verification of Iranian compliance with the deal.
Araqchi indicated in his interview that the process for verification would take “two to three months”.
IAEA head Yukiya Amano offered a slightly longer timetable after his return from talks in Tehran, “With the cooperation from Iran, I think we can issue a report by the end of the year on the assessment of the clarification of the issues related to possible military dimensions.”
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However, the two sides are continuing to seek a resolution over the issue of inspections, with Iran holding out against any access to military sites, even as it adheres to the Additional Protocol of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
In Tehran, the Supreme Leader highlighted the issue of sanctions as he addressed university professors:
Reason of imposing sanctions is neither nuclear issue nor human rights. It’s because a nation has risen with principles opposing hegemony.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) July 4, 2015
Rouhani Issues Orders for “Boom to Economy as Socio-Political Necessity”
President Rouhani has commanded his 1st Vice President, Eshaq Jahangiri, to “restore a boom to economy” as “a socio-political necessity”.
Invoking the Supreme Leader’s slogan of a “Resistance Economy”, Rouhani ordered reform of the financial and banking system to deal with issues of liquidity, investment, the capital market, and “discipline” in Government expenditure.
