Iran ups stakes over nuke deadline

IRAN is committed to securing a nuclear agreement with world powers but will not sign one “at any price”, its negotiators said yesterday, as a key deadline for Tehran nears.

IRAN is committed to securing a nuclear agreement with world powers but will not sign one “at any price”, its negotiators said yesterday, as a key deadline for Tehran nears.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany — known as P5+1 — signed an interim deal last November and are in discussions to secure a more permanent accord.

The target date for a final deal has been put back to November 24. “We are entering with goodwill into further negotiations with the P5+1 group and we want to reach an agreement ... but we are not willing to pay any price,” ISNA news agency quoted Majid Takht-Ravanchi, one of Iran’s main negotiators, as saying. “If the other side also show goodwill we can reach an agreement by November 24.”

By next Monday, Tehran must also respond to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on decade-old allegations of past nuclear weapons research. Tehran denies it wants nuclear weapons, insisting it is pursuing atomic energy purely for peaceful purposes.

On Monday, Tehran is to address claims made by the IAEA of the alleged use of what the Vienna-based watchdog calls “large-scale high explosives experimentation”.

Last year’s key deal partially froze Iran’s nuclear activities in return for minor sanctions relief but the gap between the two sides remains large. While some dif- ferences have been reconciled there are disagreements over how much uranium Iran would be allowed to enrich and on the lifting of sanctions.