Obama says Iran hasn’t made concessions needed for agreement

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Iran hasn’t made enough concessions in nuclear talks with world powers to reach an agreement on removing sanctions.

“They have not yet made the kind of concessions that I think are going to be needed for a final deal to get done,” Mr Obama said in an interview with the Huffington Post published yesterday (March 21) on its website.

Achieving an agreement, the president said, depends on whether Iran is “prepared to show, to prove to the world that it is not developing a nuclear weapon and can we verify that in an intrusive, consistent way”.

Six days of discussions in Lausanne, Switzerland, ended without a deal on Friday, as US Secretary of State John Kerry said “substantial progress” had been made. Negotiators from the US and five other nations are seeking to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful in exchange for relief from sanctions that have hobbled Iran’s economy.

While the negotiations have brought “very significant progress with Iran in some areas,” there remain “important issues on which no agreement has yet been possible,” UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told reporters after Kerry met with his European counterparts Saturday at London Heathrow Airport on his way back to Washington.

Mr Obama has repeatedly said he’s prepared to walk away from negotiations if a deal can’t be reached to prevent the Islamic Republic from building a nuclear weapon. Iran says its program is for purely peaceful purposes,

The two sides have given themselves until March 31 to agree on the framework of an accord. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Obama’s domestic critics have accused him of ignoring Iran’s support for international terrorism and rushing to mend ties with a nation that they say seeks to destroy Israel.

BELIVING NETANYAHU

Mr Obama, in the interview, said he had spoken with Netanyahu, congratulated him on his re-election and told him “we continue to believe that a two-state solution is the only way for the long-term security of Israel.”

Mr Netanyahu, following his victory this week, backed away from a campaign statement opposing a separate Palestinian state.

Mr Obama said “we take him at his word when he said that it wouldn’t happen during his prime ministership, and so that’s why we’ve got to evaluate what other options are available to make sure that we don’t see a chaotic situation in the region.”

Mr Obama’s interview with the Huffington Post took place on Friday. BLOOMBERG