Iran Vows 'Irreversible Steps' on Nuclear Program if Matched by West
Iran will take "irreversible steps" over its contested nuclear program if the West does the same, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tuesday during a visit to Spain.
"This is the framework under which we will operate -- (there will be) irreversible steps on the Iranian side as long as the other side takes irreversible steps," said Zarif, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator.
Tehran and international powers made a major breakthrough on April 2 in a 12-year standoff by agreeing on the parameters for a final deal scaling back Iran's nuclear program.
But global powers must resolve a series of difficult technical issues by a June 30 deadline in order to seal a final nuclear deal, including the steps for lifting sanctions imposed on Iran.
Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who will have the final say on any deal, has plunged the accord into doubt suggesting that "nothing is binding" while President Hassan Rouhani demanded that sanctions be immediately lifted when any deal is signed.
Tehran's denies Western claims that it is seeking to make a nuclear bomb.
Source: Agence France Presse
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