Time for US to Make Choice, Iran’s FM Says
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in an apparent reaction to US President Barack Obama’s message to Iran on the occasion of Nowruz, said it is now Washington’s turn to choose between the path for a nuclear deal or the policy of exerting pressure.
“Iranians have already made their choice: Engage (in nuclear negotiations) with dignity," Zarif said in a message posted on his Twitter account on Friday.
"It's high time for the US and its allies to choose: pressure or agreement."
His comments came after Obama said in a Thursday video message directed at Iranians celebrating the new year festival of Nowruz that Tehran has to “take meaningful, verifiable steps to assure the world that its nuclear program is in fact for peaceful purposes only.”
Obama also added that “Iran’s leaders have a choice between two paths”, agreeing or not on a final nuclear deal.
With the Nowruz approaching, diplomats from Iran and six world powers are engaged in a decisive round of diplomacy in the Swiss city of Lausanne to pave the way for a landmark nuclear agreement ahead of a June 30 deadline.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) are in talks to hammer out a comprehensive accord that would end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran’s civilian nuclear activities.