Iran laid out “red lines” Monday related to its ballistic missile program, nuclear sites and uranium enrichment ahead of fresh nuclear talks with world powers.
Rouhani insisted Iran was “serious” about the negotiations, as his negotiators warned they would not back down on some of the thorniest issues of the decade-long dispute.
Negotiations are set to resume in Vienna on February 18 and 19 between Iran and the so-called P5+1 — Britain, France, the United States, Russia and China plus Germany.
This is while the US lead negotiator in the talks, Wendy Sherman, last week told a Senate hearing that Iran’s ballistic missile program would be addressed in the comprehensive deal.
The missile program — targeted by UN Security Council sanctions — worries Western powers, as Iran boasts long-range missiles with a maximum range of 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles), enough to reach Israel.
Sherman also argued that Iran does not require an unfinished heavy water reactor in Arak — which could one day produce plutonium as a by-product — nor the underground Fordo uranium enrichment site for its civilian nuclear program.