Iranian President Hassan Rohani says “on several occasions” during the nuclear negotiations with the 5+1 in Vienna and Geneva and “at least two times” in Lausanne, he told the Iranian team to walk away from the negotiating table.
Iran’s National Broadcasting Seda v Sima reports that Rohani said in a speech on Thursday July 23 that “at least two times” during the talks in Lausanne, he had told the Iranian delegation to leave the table and return to Tehran.
“Time and time again in Geneva and Vienna in the past months and in the latest round of negotiations, it happened that we had a discussion and I said if they do not accept, leave the negotiation table and return to Tehran this very night,” Rohani said.
John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, has said in an interview that he left the negotiating table three times as a way to reach the best deal possible.
Meanwhile, Abbas Araghchi, the senior Iranian negotiator, reacted to Kerry’s statement, saying: “We also left the negotiating table 10 times.”
“Tensions were high during the negotiations, and there were very serious obstacles on the way, and even two days before we reached the agreement, we were not certain that there would be an agreement,” Araghchi said.
On Monday, the United Nations passed resolution 2231 recognizing the agreement reached between Iran and the 5+1 in Vienna. The resolution states that Iran has agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.
