Kerry: Withdrawing from negotiations will lead to the collapse of sanctions against Iran

John Kerry, in response to critics of the Obama administration's proposal to withdraw the U.S. from nuclear negotiations with Iran, stated that if a deal is not reached with Iran, Tehran's hand will be free to expand its nuclear activities both overtly and covertly, leading to the collapse of the sanctions process. The U.S. Secretary of State, speaking at the annual meeting of U.S. ambassadors worldwide on Wednesday, April 5, said: "If we withdraw from nuclear negotiations (with Iran) as critics suggest, what will happen? And this could happen. Well, the negotiations will collapse. Iran will be able to spin its centrifuges again and enrich uranium at the capacities it desires, if they make such a decision." He added that sanctions would not be able to prevent them because other parties involved in negotiations, who consider a potential agreement reasonable, would also abandon approaches (like sanctions) and would tell us: "You do what you want, we will do what we think is right. You have no interest in being reasonable, we will do what we believe is reasonable." According to the U.S. State Department's website, John Kerry emphasized: "For this reason, you will no longer see any effect of the sanctions regime. You will no longer have any transparent and agreed structure to monitor Iran's nuclear program. I believe the whole purpose of imposing sanctions is to achieve an agreement for monitoring and reviewing the (nuclear) program." He stated: "It is now very clear that they (the Iranians) have accepted (monitoring), you must know how to implement them, it is our duty to reach an agreement that is good and enforceable, an agreement that closes four pathways to obtaining nuclear weapons: the pathway through Fordow, the pathway through Arak, the pathway through Natanz, and finally the clandestine pathway, which will be the hardest but I can assure you that we are focused on this last one." Following the escalation of disputes between Iran and global powers over its nuclear program, the Security Council, the U.S., and the European Union have imposed sanctions against Iran. Western countries accuse Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons technology under the guise of its nuclear program. Iran has consistently denied this accusation, stating that its nuclear program is peaceful and aimed at providing energy for the country. The U.S. Secretary of State continued his remarks on Wednesday regarding negotiations to reach a final and comprehensive agreement on Iran's nuclear program, saying: "As some think, this choice is not between Iran long ago and Iran today. This choice is between this moment, or as some think, by dissuading them (Iranians) from their entire nuclear program. This will not happen." He added: "This is a choice between a government that has previously developed its nuclear program and has been able to acquire sufficient knowledge to master the nuclear cycle, has previously gained enrichment capability and has moved from 164 centrifuges in 2003 to 19,000 centrifuges currently - although now 9,400 centrifuges are spinning - with a situation where they gain freedom in using them." The U.S. Secretary of State stated: "If we do not reach an agreement, they (Iranians) will develop their nuclear program and move forward rapidly. You know that we will not accept such a situation. Now, what conclusion does this lead you to?" John Kerry further stated: Anyone opposed (to continuing negotiations to reach an agreement with Iran) must step forward and present a practical and realistic alternative plan, which I have not seen so far." He mentioned in this speech that he would head to Switzerland on Thursday for a new round of negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear program. The new round of negotiations between Iran and the U.S., Britain, France, China, and Russia, along with Germany, the 1+5 countries, is set to begin on Thursday. Meanwhile, negotiations at the level of deputy foreign ministers of Iran and the U.S. began on Wednesday.