Zarif's Statements on the Possibility of Referring Iran's Nuclear Agreement to the Security Council

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, stated that the agreement currently being negotiated between Iran and six world powers, if approved by the Security Council, would become an "internationally binding" agreement for all countries. In an interview with the weekly "Seda" published on Saturday, March 6, he discussed the potential agreement among the P5+1 countries, saying: "This is an agreement that will be confirmed in a Chapter VII resolution of the UN Charter, and thus will become an international and binding agreement for all governments, including current and future governments of Iran and the United States." Zarif responded to the question of whether the nuclear agreement is to be approved and presented as an international treaty by saying: "If you pay attention, I referred to the Security Council and the role that this body can play in this regard." He further stated: "Because I have a viewpoint, but this viewpoint must be approved by all members of the negotiating team. Once an agreement is reached, you will see that any agreement made will be binding for both the current U.S. government and future U.S. governments, just as both the current Iranian government and future Iranian governments will accept it and respect its provisions." Regarding the possibility of reaching an agreement by March 24 (early April) or the failure of negotiations, Zarif said: "The talks are ongoing, and as long as all details are not agreed upon, the possibility of negotiation failure exists." However, Zarif emphasized that he sees "the probability of success as greater than the probability of failure." He continued: "Because I feel both sides believe that success and reaching an agreement is more beneficial than not reaching an understanding. Not reaching an understanding is not the end of the world, but both sides have invested their time and political capital in the success of these talks." Meanwhile, Barack Obama, the President of the United States, stated that if the current nuclear negotiations with Iran do not lead to an acceptable agreement, the U.S. will leave the negotiating table. In an interview with CBS aired on Sunday, March 17, Obama said that any agreement with Iran must allow Western countries to ensure that Iran is not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons and that if Iran has "deceptive intentions," the U.S. and other countries must have sufficient opportunity to act on this matter. The U.S. President emphasized that if such an agreement is not achievable, we will not accept an agreement (that does not meet these conditions). Currently, negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 are ongoing to reach a final agreement on Iran's nuclear issue. Iran and the six world powers are expected to reach a political agreement in these negotiations by March 24.