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No deal on Iran N-arms: Kerry

Kerry said the US was not racing to complete talks with Iran over its nuclear programme and would not undermine its ties with Arab allies.

Shaikh Abdullah and John Kerry briefing the media at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abu Dhabi on Monday. — KT photo by Nezar Balout

The United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, has denied his country had struck any deal with Iran to allow them nuclear weapons, while he assured the country’s Arab allies and Israel they will not be abandoned.

Addressing a Press conference held along with UAE Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi on Monday, Kerry said Washington was against Iran having nuclear weapons under a deal. However, he said an agreement with Iran was expected within months — but, crucially, that did not meant Tehran would be allowed to have nuclear weapons.

“No deal is better than a bad deal… if Iran is allowed a uranium enrichment programme, we will lose our allies that will result in isolation. We will stand up for and defend our allies in this region against any kind of external threat, so this is a strong strategic relationship and I look forward to continuing our important dialogue,” Kerry assured those in attendance.

He said the US was not racing to complete talks with Iran over its nuclear programme and would not undermine its ties with Arab allies.

“We were unified on Saturday when we presented a proposal to the Iranians. France signed off on it, we signed off on it, and everybody agreed it was a fair proposal. There was unity, but Iran couldn’t take it at that particular moment, they weren’t able to accept that particular thing,” the Secretary of State explained about the recent Geneva talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.

He said the negotiations between the US, Iran, UK, France, Russia, China (the four permanent members of the United Nations Security Council) and Germany ended on Saturday without a deal, though further talks are scheduled for November 20.

Referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear ambitions as “premature”, Kerry said: “The time to oppose it is when you see what it is, not to oppose the effort to find out what is possible. Iran will not be allowed to develop a nuclear bomb”.

Netanyahu has repeatedly criticised what he considers readiness by the six powers involved in the talks to be too generous to Iran and has aggressively campaigned against an agreement.

Kerry said US President Barack Obama “does what he says”. He gave examples of killing Osama bin Laden and getting American troops out of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as evidence.

“So believe us on Iran. (The President) will not bluff.”

Shaikh Abdullah said the UAE encouraged a dialogue between the international powers and Iran.

“We believe that political and diplomatic dialogue is the best way for a solution but Iran should show good faith and intention and be clear and transparent about its nuclear programme with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the international community alike.”

Earlier, Shaikh Abdullah welcomed his US counterpart and thanked him for his efforts in the region’s peace process — saying relations between the two countries were “at their best”.

“We had fruitful talks on various issues, both political and economical. We spoke about the US and partners’ efforts in bringing peace in Syria, the positive development in Egyptian and other regional issues. Our talks mainly covered further strengthening our bilateral relations and assuring peace and stability in the region,” Shaikh Abdullah said.

He also said recent efforts by the American administration to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict were the best he had ever seen, and he thanked Kerry for this important visit following the meeting in Geneva, which sent a strong message about the closeness of the relations between the two countries.

Shaikh Abdullah took the opportunity to speak about the UAE’s peaceful nuclear programme. “The UAE has a nuclear programme which is peaceful, transparent and witnesses acceptance and international partnership, and we are not going to enrich uranium.”

nissar@khaleejtimes.com