PARIS, Feb 21 (KUNA) — Punitive sanctions voted four times by UN Security Council against Iran, and other sanctions put in place by other bodies, cannot be lifted “definitively” until a global agreement is reached with Iran on its nuclear programmes, a French official said.
“There can only be a definitive and total lifting of sanctions from the moment a global agreement is concluded with Iran on its commitment not to seek nuclear armaments,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said in answer to KUNA questions Friday.
Nadal acknowledged that there was an interim accord, signed in Geneva last November, and that this had led to a partial and limited lifting of some sanctions, but he said that the total lifting of restrictions would require full agreement.
“An interim agreement was concluded with Iran. We are now committed in negotiations with the aim of a global and definitive accord,” he added.
The P5+1 group and Iran have agreed a framework and agenda for talks, beginning in March and running up until July, when it is hoped the ground will be laid for a comprehensive accord.
“We have not yet reached this accord,” Nadal pointed out. “There is a negotiation. The framework has been set. The process is underway and we have to bring it to a conclusion. The sooner will be the better,” the spokesman remarked.
