Iranian official chides world powers on talks

VIENNA — In an eleventh-hour appeal, Iran’s foreign minister used a video clip Friday to prod the six world powers he is negotiating with to abandon “coercive” tactics and strike a deal over his nation’s nuclear program.

The official, Mohammad Javad Zarif, accused the countries in an Englishlanguage video posted on YouTube of bullying Iran during the past two years of bargaining to try to get an agreement unfairly tilted.

“Some stubbornly believe that military and economic coercion can ensure submission,” he said. “They insist on spending other people’s money or sacrificing other people’s children for their own delusional designs.”

Negotiators for Iran and the six world powers — the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China – appear close to completing a deal that would lift economic sanctions on Iran if it accepts limits intended to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear bomb for the next 10 to 15 years.

The video appeared to be aimed at building more pressure and showing that if talks break down, the fault lies with the United States and other powers, rather than with Iran. It seemed also to be intended to show Zarif’s audience back home that Iran’s negotiating team has been holding strong to try to get the best possible deal.

Zarif suggested that the negotiators were extremely near to a deal. The group “has never been closer to a lasting outcome,” he said.

A senior Obama administration official would not comment on the video.