France’s foreign minister Laurent Fabius said on Sunday it was unclear whether an international deal could be reached on Iran’s nuclear program by a June 30th deadline.
“We need to be extremely firm, at the stage where we are now, things are still not clear,” Mr Fabius said.
Mr Fabius has said he would meet the Iranian regime’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday to assess where Tehran stands ahead of the final round of talks on its nuclear program.
“Towards the end of next week the ministers will go [to the talks], so I’d like to have an explanation and conversation to see where the Iranians are,” Mr Fabius told reporters in Cairo on Saturday, on the first day of the two-day Middle East visit.
The Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament) on Sunday voted to ban international nuclear inspectors from having access to Iran’s military sites and scientists as part of any future deal with world powers over its nuclear program.
The bill was approved by 199 of the 213 Majlis deputies who were present.
The bill also stipulates that all international sanctions against the regime must be lifted as part of any nuclear agreement that is reached with the world powers.
The P5+1 states – Britain, China, France, Russia, the US and Germany – hope to strike a deal with the Iranian regime by June 30 that would curtail Tehran’s nuclear effort in exchange for sanctions relief.
The latest measure by the regime’s parliament come as the question of access for international inspectors has become one of the main sticking points between Tehran and six world powers as they try to overcome obstacles to a final nuclear agreement in days ahead of a deadline.
