Obama: No Agreement Will Be Reached If Iran's Path to Nuclear Weapons Is Not Blocked

Barack Obama, the President of the United States, emphasized that if negotiators do not ensure that all pathways for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons are blocked by the end of the nuclear talks, no agreement will be reached. Mr. Obama's remarks were made on Tuesday, July 9, just hours after Iran and world powers announced that the nuclear negotiations had been extended for another seven days. The parties stated that by extending these negotiations, they decided to provide sufficient opportunity to reach a nuclear agreement. Barack Obama, speaking at a news conference, expressed hope for reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran, but reiterated that Iran must not acquire nuclear weapons. According to reports from Reuters and France, the U.S. President stated that the framework of a potential agreement with Iran would fulfill his goal of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but if Iran fails to comply with the conditions outlined in this framework, problems will arise. He then stated that if the U.S. and other negotiating parties cannot be assured that Iran's path to nuclear weapons is blocked, if sufficient inspection of Iran's facilities is not possible, and if verification of Iran's nuclear program is not feasible, no agreement will be reached. Mr. Obama ultimately said that he has always emphasized avoiding a bad agreement, and it now depends on Iran to meet the demands of the international community. Iran and the 1+5 group, consisting of the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany, had declared July 9 as the deadline for reaching a comprehensive nuclear agreement, but the parties decided today to extend the negotiations until next Tuesday, which coincided with the U.S. and the European Union's decision to suspend sanctions against Iran for a week. In this context, Kerry: It is still too early to ensure the finalization of the agreement; Zarif in Vienna: I have come to reach a final agreement; India's readiness to settle oil debts to Iran; Government spokesman: Unaware of Obama's letter to Iranian officials.