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Leader Backs Fair Nuclear Settlement

Leader Backs Fair Nuclear Settlement
Leader Backs Fair Nuclear Settlement

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Iran would rather sign a fair nuclear agreement with the major powers than strike a deal that contradicts the interests of the Iranian nation.

In an address to air force commanders and personnel on Sunday in Tehran, Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran shares the same view with the US when it says "no deal is better than a bad deal," emphasizing, "We believe not striking a deal is better than the one that runs counter to our nation's interests and brings humiliation for the great Iranian nation," IRNA reported.

The Leader praised efforts by the nuclear negotiators to take the "weapon of sanctions" away from the enemy and said, "If they can, so much the better. If they fail, everyone should know there are numerous ways at our disposal inside the country to blunt the impact of those sanctions."

He also said Tehran has acted “reasonably” in the course of the negotiations, while the other side has sought to blackmail the Iranians.  “During the nuclear negotiations, the Islamic establishment has acted based on logic, but the other side has no rationality and as a result resorted to bullying,” he said, stressing that Iran “will not accept any excessive demands and illogical behavior.”

Ayatollah Khamenei threw his support behind the administration of President Hassan Rouhani and approved his remarks that “Negotiations are all about trying to reach a common ground.” The Leader said in line with the same reasoning “one party should not attempt to get all it wants through illogical actions.”

He went on to say that the US and several European countries are in fact following the same “illogical behavior” by their excessive demands.

  Opposing Two-Stage Agreement

The Leader said he does not agree with a schedule for the negotiations which envisages the two sides initially reach a general nuclear agreement within a certain timeframe and then work out the details at a later stage.  “If any deal is to be reached, it should be done in a single stage and include general (terms) and details together,” Ayatollah Khamenei stated.

In view of the past record of the other party, any agreement on general terms would be used by them as an instrument for “making further excuses”, he said.   

“The terms of any agreement should be plain and clear without a need for interpretation. Such terms should not provide the other party with an opportunity to be able to bargain on different aspects of a deal,” he noted.

After nearly a year of talks, Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) failed for a second time last November to meet a self-imposed deadline to work out a long-tem settlement to resolve the long-running dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program. They agreed to extend the talks until June 30.  They aim to reach a general agreement by March which would lay out the key points of a final pact and use the remaining time to finalize the details of the accord. The leader also pointed to the “repeated political defeats” of the US in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Gaza, Afghanistan, Pakistan and even Ukraine and addressed American politicians by saying, “Your are the ones that have suffered repeated setbacks and defeats during these years, but the Islamic Republic of Iran has made progress.”

He said the Iranian nation will once again demonstrate their might by taking part in the rallies to be held on February 11 to mark the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Financialtribune.com