Anti-Iran hawks in the US are representatives of israel: Porter

An American historian and investigative journalist says the anti-Iran hawks in US Congress who are trying to sabotage talks over Iran’s nuclear energy program are “representing the Israeli position.”

Gareth Porter made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Wednesday, in reference to senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) who recently circulated a letter on Capitol Hill urging other US lawmakers to support their call for the imposition of more pressure on Iran.

In their letter, the two hawkish senators said that Iran should accept at least two decades of tough international inspections of its nuclear energy program as part of a final agreement before Congress would agree to ease sanctions.

“What’s happening here is of course the Iran hawks in Congress are attempting to put pressure on the Obama administration to avoid any deal that goes in the direction of Iran’s position,” Porter told Press TV.

“Hawks in Congress who are of course representing the Israeli position on this are now pushing to make sure that Obama does not make any compromise,” he added.

Porter is the author of “Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of Iran Nuclear Scare” in which he examines hundreds of reports and documents and concludes that neoconservatives worked with Israel’s Mossad in creating “a false intelligence dossier to make the case for war against Iran.”

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US – plus Germany reached an interim deal over Tehran’s nuclear energy program on November 24, 2013, in the Swiss city of Geneva. The six-month deal, which took effect on January 20 and will end on July 20, can be extended depending on the agreement of all parties involved.

Reacting to media speculations about an extension of Sunday’s deadline, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic has not yet agreed to the extension of the ongoing nuclear talks with the P5+1 group.

“We have not yet agreed to the extension of talks,” Zarif said following a closed-door meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns in Vienna, adding that the talks will continue seriously up to July 20.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged that Iranian negotiators are “strong in their position” as they “fight for” their right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

Zarif is a “tough negotiator and knows how to fight for what he’s fighting for,” Kerry told reporters at a news conference after two days of talks with Iran’s foreign minister.