Iran won't negotiate under military threat, warns Khamenei
Cincinnati Sun Thursday 7th May, 2015
• Khamenei, who has final say over most matters of state in Iran, said he didn't approve of any negotiations "under the ghost of a threat," according to his official website.
• Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh is to meet with German Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel in Berlin on Thursday, a rare encounter with a government official in Europe
• Samantha Power has said that Washington did not want Russia's and China's vetoes on resolutions related to Syria to be repeated with an Iran nuclear agreement.
UNITED NATIONS - Iran won't negotiate with world powers over its disputed nuclear programme if under military threat, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said as negotiations between Iran and the world powers resumes in Vienna next week.
In a speech in Tehran, Khamenei, who has final say over most matters of state in Iran, said he didn't approve of any negotiations "under the ghost of a threat," according to his official website.
Khamenei said two US officials had threatened a military attack against Iran recently, but he didn't elaborate. It wasn't immediately clear what he was referring to.
In his speech, Khamenei urged Iran's nuclear negotiators to "go and negotiate ... but don't accept imposition, humiliation and threat," according to his website.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest couldn't say which US officials Khamenei was referring to in his remarks. "I'll just say that it continues to be the view of the president that by far the best way for us to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is engaging in diplomacy, with the rest of the international community," said Earnest.
He added that a nuclear deal is unlikely to "address the long list of concerns we have about Iranian behavior" across the Middle East. "But it's precisely because of that concern about Iranian behavior in a wide variety of other areas that we have made prevention of Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon a top priority," Earnest said.
Iran and a group of six world powersthe US, China, Russia, France, Germany and the UK reached a preliminary deal last month that would curtail Iran's ability to enrich uranium and convert some of its nuclear sites into research facilities in exchange for an easing of international sanctions. The accord faces a self-imposed June 30 deadline for finalization.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh is to meet with German Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel in Berlin on Thursday, a rare encounter with a government official in Europe.
The contact would be among the highest levels of bilateral engagement so far with a European government and shows that Western nations are now willing to engage directly with Iran outside the framework of nuclear talks. Iran has been courting European Union countries to invest in its vast energy potential.
The bilateral meeting comes after an official Polish delegation held talks in Tehran on Tuesday to buy its oil if sanctions are lifted.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power has said that Washington did not want Russia's and China's recent slew of vetoes on resolutions related to Syria to be repeated with an Iran nuclear agreement.
"We're going to do so in a manner that doesn't require Russian and Chinese support or a vote for snapback ... because we are in a different world in 2015 than we were when the sanctions architecture was put in place," Power said in an interview with Charlie Rose on Bloomberg television. She offered no details.
Iran's chief negotiator in New York, in a positive assessment of the latest round of nuclear negotiations, said: "The atmosphere of the talks was good and it is possible to reach the final deal by June 30," Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Iranian state television.