Tehran, YJC. UK’s foreign secretary has said that Iran must give more in order to get a nuclear agreement.
Iran will have to make further concessions to clinch an
agreement on its nuclear program, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said
on Monday, adding many difficult issues remained unresolved.
Speaking in Riyadh after
talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, Hammond told reporters that
while significant progress had been made in talks between Iran and major powers
in recent weeks, reaching a deal would be extremely challenging.
"It
remains the case that Iran has to make significant further movement if we are
going to be able to secure an agreement," Reuters quoted Hammond as saying.
"There are a lot of
complex and difficult issues that remain to be resolved before a deal can be
agreed. Reaching a comprehensive, lasting and verifiable deal will be extremely
challenging but remains in all our interests."
China, Russia, the United
States, Germany, France and Britain are trying to reach a framework deal with
Tehran by the end of the month that would restrict the most sensitive aspects
of Iran's atomic program in return for an easing of international sanctions.
Iran denies that it wants to
acquire nuclear weapons.
Hammond
said he had assured Saudi authorities that Britain would not accept a deal at
any price.
"The right deal is one
that allows Iran to have a civilian nuclear program but prevents it from
developing a nuclear weapon capability. It remains our position that no deal is
better than a bad deal," he said.