French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Monday that an agreement between Western powers and Iran to limit the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme was “not far”, after he was the target of both praise and condemnation over negotiations that stalled over the weekend, reports FRANCE 24.
“We’re not far from an accord with the Iranians, but we’re not there yet,” Fabius told Europe 1 radio in Paris a day after negotiations that also included the United States, Britain, China and Germany ended in Geneva without a deal. “It’s obvious that there was progress, but it was not possible to go all the way.”
He added, “The negotiations continue. There is a text on the table that has been accepted, but there are two or three points that are still problematic.”
French dissension over the nuclear deal on Sunday was, in an ironic twist, praised by American conservatives.
“France had the courage to prevent a bad nuclear deal with Iran,” Republican Senator John McCain wrote on a social networking website. “Vive la France!”
Lindsey Graham, another Republican senator known for his hawkish views, also showered praise on France for blocking a deal. “Thank God for France and thank God for push back,” Graham told CNN’s State of the Union television show.
Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.