US must make very tough decision: Iran FM

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the United States must make a “very tough” decision, urging Washington to face realities once forever and stop having fantasies.

“I feel that the US administration, due to its domestic problems, makes remarks which are based on prejudgment,” Zarif said at a joint press conference with visiting Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Tehran on Saturday.

The top Iranian diplomat made the comments in reaction to the latest remarks by US Secretary of State John Kerry who said on Thursday that Iran has to take some “tough decisions” in order to hammer out a comprehensive deal with major world powers.

“We believe we’re heading in the right direction. I can’t tell you where it’s going to finally land, we don’t know,” Kerry said of the negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group due to resume next week.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – Russia, China, France, Britain and the US — plus Germany are working to hammer out a comprehensive deal following the Geneva accord. Experts from both sides met in Vienna, Austria, last week.

The next round of high-level talks between Iran and the six countries is to be held in Vienna on March 17.

Zarif said the US and the West made allegations against Iran for years, claiming that Tehran seeks to produce nuclear weapons and they are presently calling on the Islamic Republic to adopt confidence-building measures.

“They well know that we have never sought and do not seek nuclear weapons and that our nuclear program is peaceful. So, Iran has no intention of stopping any kind of its nuclear activities and the opposite side knows this,” the Iranian minister added.

“Based on our religious principles, strategic considerations and military doctrine, we have never sought to produce nuclear weapons and will not do so in the future,” he reiterated.

He called on US officials to recognize Iran’s rights.

Zarif further said that Venizelos’s visit to Tehran would set the stage for the expansion of ties between the Iranian and Greek governments and nations.

He noted that he held talks with his Greek counterpart mainly on Iran’s nuclear issue, the Syrian crisis and ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fields of gas, energy, petrochemistry and transit.

“Grounds for cooperation between Iran and Greece will not only lead to the expansion of mutual relations, but can be a gate for ties with Europe,” the Iranian minister stated.

The Greek foreign minister is on an official visit to Tehran at the head of a high-ranking politico-economic delegation to hold talks with Iranian officials on the promotion of bilateral ties between Athens and Tehran.