Iranian MPs speed up discussion on motion to cancel Geneva deal
By Sara Rajabova
Iranian legislators have voted to speed up discussions on a motion that would make the government to cancel the Geneva deal if the United States imposes new sanctions on Tehran.
This comes as the U.S. Senate Banking Committee voted in late January to advance a bill that would toughen sanctions on Iran if international negotiators fail to reach a nuclear deal by the end of June.
During an open session of the Iranian Parliament on February 3, 173 out of the 205 present lawmakers voted for favor of the motion to give it urgency status so that it would take precedence over regular ones. Nine lawmakers voted 'no', while five others abstained, Press TV reported.
If approved the legislation would compel the government to resume nuclear activities which were limited as part of the agreement.
Iran and the P5+1 group – the U.S, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany – have been holding intensive talks to clinch a final comprehensive deal over Tehran's nuclear energy program.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iranian Foreign Minister said if the country and the six world powers can achieve two main objectives, they will be able to strike a comprehensive deal, IRNA reported.
Zarif explained that the two objectives are to grant that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful, and to state in the final agreement that the entire sanctions on the country will be removed.
The U.S. and some Western countries suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies.
Stressing that based on the Non-Proliferation Treaty Iran has a right to use the nuclear energy, Zarif said “we try to prove to the world and guarantee the fact that our nuclear program is peaceful.”
Since an interim deal was sealed in the Swiss city of Geneva in November 2013, the negotiating sides have missed two self-imposed deadlines to ink a final agreement.
Under the Geneva agreement, the six countries accepted to ease sanctions against Iran in return for the Islamic Republic to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities.
Iran and the P5+1 countries now seek to reach a high-level political agreement by March 1 and to confirm the full technical details of the accord by July 1.
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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
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