Kerry says atrocities like Peshawar school attack must be opposed with every fibre of our being
United States (US) Secretary of State John Kerry Sunday met for surprise talks with his Iranian counterpart for new discussions on Iran’s nuclear programme on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich.
Kerry huddled with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for the second time during their stay in the southern German city, as global powers grapple for a political accord to rein in Iran’s atomic ambitions ahead of a March 31 deadline. Kerry was due to fly back to Washington later in the day.
Few details of the tough negotiations have leaked, but world powers are trying to ensure that Iran’s pathway to developing a nuclear weapon are cut off, and in return they will agree to a gradual easing of international sanctions which have crippled Iran’s economy.
However, scepticism is mounting about whether a deal is possible, despite an interim accord agreed in November 2013, after two deadlines for a comprehensive agreement were missed.
Iran and the group known as the P5+1 – Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States – now want to conclude a political agreement by late March, with a final deadline pinning down the technical details by the end of June.
Kerry and Zarif have met many times, mostly in European cities, as they seek to thrash out the complex accord. But both men are under pressure from hardliners back home, with US lawmakers threatening to try to unleash a new wave of sanctions on Iran after March.
During the meeting, Zarif appeared to rule out any new extension to negotiations with world powers over his country’s nuclear programme after meeting US Secretary of State John Kerry for new talks.
Following the talks, Zarif told the conference that progress had been made in the past months and that there was now a window of opportunity to come up with a final deal.
“This is the opportunity to do it, and we need to seize this opportunity,” he said. “It may not be repeated.”
“I do not think another extension is in the interest of anyone, as I do not believe this extension was either necessary or useful.
“In my view extension is not useful, not conducive to an agreement, and all my energy and focus and that of my colleagues and I’m sure my negotiating partners are all focused on reaching an agreement as early as possible.”
Zarif’s comments came as Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday he would go along with a nuclear deal with the six major powers as long as it was in the best interests of his nation.
“I would go along with the agreement in the making,” Khamenei said in a speech to air force personnel, as quoted by the official news agency IRNA.
“Our [nuclear] negotiators are trying to take the weapon of sanctions away from the enemy. If they can, so much the better. If they fail, everyone should know there are many ways at our disposal to dull this weapon,” he said.
Furthermore, remembering the victims of Peshawar school attack, US top diplomat John Kerry on Sunday said there are no grounds of history, ideology, psychology, politics, economics advantage or disadvantage or personal ambition that justify the murder of children, the kidnapping and rape of teenage girls, or the slaughter of unarmed civilians.
“These atrocities can never be rationalized, they can never be excused, they must be opposed with every fibre of our being and they must be stopped,” Kerry told the Munich Security Conference.