Kerry: Iran Must Finalize Deal to Prove Nuclear Program Is Peaceful

Refuses to Discuss Details of Negotiation

In comments today, Secretary of State John Kerry urged Iran to agree to finalize a P5+1 deal on their civilian nuclear program, insisting that such a deal would “prove to the world this is a peaceful program.”

If Iran’s willingness was all it took to “prove” that, it should’ve been apparent quite awhile ago, since by all accounts Iran was willing to sign the deal at the last meeting, and it was only France that killed the pact at the last moment, with an eye toward selling arms to Saudi Arabia.

France went on record with a series of “demands” for Iran to meet before they’d agree to a deal, but mysteriously they were the exact same things the pact was already reported to include. Kerry provided no details on the dispute, however, saying he didn’t believe the deal should be negotiated in public.

The IAEA has repeatedly confirmed the non-diversion of nuclear materials from any of Iran’s civilian programs to any non-declared purposes, and Iran has repeatedly ruled out producing nuclear arms. The US refusal to believe Iran reflects long-standing hostility between the two nations more than any real evidence that anything is even theoretically untoward about Iran’s program.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.