Philip Hammond strikes cautious note over Iran nuclear talks

The Guardian

Europe and the US will not do a “bad” nuclear deal with Iran, the British foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, has vowed.

He was speaking on Saturday night after talks involving his counterparts from France and Germany and the US secretary of state, John Kerry, at Heathrow.

The discussions come between talks with Iran in Lausanne over its nuclear programme.

The Iranian president, Hassan Rohani, has said “achieving a deal is possible” by the 31 March target date for a preliminary accord that is meant to lead to a final deal by the end of June.

It would scale back Tehran’s nuclear programmes in exchange for sanctions relief.

But Hammond struck a cautious note in briefing the media after the two and a half hour talks at the airport.

Flanked by Kerry, the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and the EU high representative, Federica Mogherini, Hammond said they had agreed that significant progress had been made in some areas, but there were others where there was no agreement.

Hammond said: “Now is the time for Iran to take difficult decisions.

“We reaffirmed that we are all equally committed to finding a solution that ensures that Iran’s nuclear programme remains exclusively peaceful in line with its stated commitment.

“Any solution must be comprehensive, durable and verifiable. None of our countries can subscribe to a deal that does not meet those terms.

“We will not do a bad deal which does not meet our red lines.”

Hammond said it was an important moment in the negotiations.

“If we are able to resolve all the main issues, technical work will follow to convert a framework into a detailed text.

“We will all continue to work together with unity of purpose to secure a successful outcome.”

Only Hammond spoke, and, as the ministers left the briefing, Kerry laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, saying: “That was better than the text.”