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IRAN: Top adviser to Khamenei says ‘redlines’ should be respected in nuclear talks

velayati

The top adviser to the Iranian regime’s supreme leader said on Friday that Tehran’s “redlines” should be respected in nuclear talks with major powers aimed at curbing the regime’s nuclear program.

“A deal can be reached only if (our) redlines are respected … (U.S. Secretary of state John Kerry’s) comments are part of America’s psychological warfare against Iran,” said Ali Akbar Velayati, top adviser to the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. His comments were published by the state-run news agency Tasnim.

Hours ahead of a deadline set by the U.S. Congress for a quick review of a nuclear deal reached between the Iranian regime and the six powers, Kerry said on Thursday the United States and other powers were not in a rush to reach the deal with Tehran.

The Iranian regime and the P5+1 states – Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States – are trying to reach a deal under which Tehran would curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Over the past two weeks, the Iranian regime and the powers have twice extended deadlines for completing the long-term nuclear agreement.

Velayati said the regime had no intention to abandon the talks.

“Iran neither suggests extension of talks, nor rejects it. It is up to Americans if they want to leave the talks. Iran is ready to continue the negotiations,” Velayati said.

The White House said the talks would not likely drag on for “many more weeks.”

Sticking points in the negotiations include Tehran’s research and development on advanced centrifuges, access to Iranian military sites and nuclear sites and Tehran’s demand for an end to a U.N. Security Council arms embargo.

A report by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) published last month showed that the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has declared international monitoring of its military sites to be a red line not to be crossed.

The report documented how for the past two years in negotiations with the world powers the regime each time called for “trust building” instead of “transparency”. There has been a deliberate effort on the part of Tehran to marginalize the issue of “transparency” regarding the possible military dimensions (PMD) of its nuclear program.