The outcome of the ongoing nuclear talks in Geneva between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany will not change Washington�™s longstanding hostility towards Tehran, an American writer tells Press TV.
�œThe real issue is way beyond what comes out of Geneva.” Stephen Lendmam said in a phone interview on Thursday.
A new round of negotiations between Iran and the Sextet – Britain, China, France, Russia, the US, and Germany – began on November 20 in the Swiss city of Geneva. Both sides are working to finalize a draft agreement to resolve the standoff over Tehran�™s nuclear energy program. The two sides had previously met in Geneva early in November.
While praising a possible interim agreement, Lendmam said that will not change the West�™s decades-old hostility towards the Islamic Republic which is born out of Iran being an independent sovereign nation.
�œIran wants its sovereign rights respected, has every right to that and deserves it.”
The United States, Israel and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. Iran strongly rejects the accusation, saying the program is entirely for peaceful purposes.
�œUS intelligence, every year, says Iran has no ongoing military nuclear program. This is well-known, Israel knows it, America knows it, Western allies know it, hostile regional states know it and yet they claim exactly the opposite,” Lendman said.
�œSo the nuclear talks are really a distraction,” he noted.
A day before the talks reopened in Geneva, President Barack Obama said he sought to resolve the nuclear issue diplomatically, but stressed that �œall options” remained on the table.
�œWhat we are suggesting… [is] let’s test the proposition that over the next six months we can resolve this in a diplomatic fashion while maintaining the essential sanctions architecture, and as president of the United States, me maintaining all options to prevent them from getting nuclear weapons,” he said Tuesday.
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Source: Press TV