Taking to Twitter, Iran’s President Argues for Rapid End to Sanctions
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Version 0 of 1. LAUSANNE, Switzerland — While American negotiators maintained tight secrecy at the nuclear talks here, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran took to Twitter late Thursday to describe a letter he sent to President Obama and other world leaders justifying Iran’s positions. Mr. Rouhani’s unusual digital diplomacy was accompanied by telephone calls to the leaders of Britain, France and Russia urging the rapid removal of “unjust sanctions against the Iranian people” if and when a nuclear accord was reached. Yet he did not speak to Mr. Obama, who has repeatedly said that sanctions could be lifted only gradually as Iran carries out an agreement that would limit its nuclear production and open itself to far-reaching inspections. The division between Iran and the West over the sanctions, however, still appears to be wide and it was unclear how the gap can be closed by Tuesday, the deadline that has been set for an initial agreement outlining the parameters of the accord. Once that outline has been agreed upon, a comprehensive agreement is to be completed by the end of June. The Tuesday deadline, however, appears to be far more important to the White House and Congress than it does to the Iranians. Iran’s supreme leaders, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made it clear in recent weeks that he was not eager to formalize an initial accord this month and was prepared to wait until the detailed agreement was fleshed out by the end of June. The Iranians have preferred instead a more general statement of “understanding” before the June accord, according to Western diplomats. That leaves the Obama administration in a potentially tricky political situation. Senior American officials have said that the administration wants to be able to outline the specifics of the initial understanding that has been reached with Iranian negotiators to rebuff any congressional moves to impose new sanctions. Yet the administration faces the prospect that it may be describing its understanding of a deal that, according to Iran, is still under negotiation. After the Twitter message appeared, a National Security Council spokeswoman confirmed that a letter to Mr. Obama from Mr. Rouhani had been passed by Iranian officials to the United States negotiating team, which is meeting in a luxury hotel overlooking Lake Geneva. The spokeswoman, Bernadette Meehan, declined to provide any details about the correspondence. Mr. Rouhani, however, was far more talkative, and in his Twitter posts described the points he had made in a phone conversation with Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain and President François Hollande of France. “Iran’s nuclear program peaceful,” Mr. Rouhani wrote. “Lifting all unjust sanctions main step to reach a deal.” “Emphasized role of Britain & France in building trust & preparing for future cooperations, rather than resorting to pressure & opposition,” he wrote in another post, appealing over the heads of the Americans to the Europeans, who have a strong desire to renew trade with Iran. Just hours before Mr. Rouhani issued his public appeals, Secretary of State John Kerry resumed his high-level talks with his Iranian counterparts as the State Department expressed hope that an initial accord could be reached by early next week. “We very much believe we can get this done by the 31st,” said a senior State Department official, who declined to be identified under the agency’s protocol for briefing reporters. “We see a path to do that.” Still, the official emphasized that the talks could yet be stymied by an array of complex issues. In a speech in London on Wednesday, Philip Hammond, the British foreign secretary, also asserted that an accord was within reach. “Agreement is deliverable if we continue on this track,” Mr. Hammond said. During the previous negotiating round, disputes emerged over what limits would be placed on the research and development of new types of centrifuges, how long an accord should last and the pace at which the economic sanctions that have been imposed on Iran might be suspended or removed. Given Iran’s reluctance to sign an initial agreement this month, the form of an initial agreement that might be concluded here over the coming days is still uncertain. “We do not know what form this will take if we can get there at the end of March,” said the State Department official. “We believe and know that we will have to share as many specific details publicly as we can,” the official added. |