Obama must hold firm on Iran deal terms - FT.com

Obama must hold firm on Iran deal terms - FT.com:



"Four days from now, Iran and a group of leading world powers will reach the much-awaited deadline for a deal to contain Tehran’s nuclear programme. All the signs are that, after 12 years of often fraught negotiation, the final hours will be the most challenging.



The US and its allies have long feared Iran’s nuclear programme is designed to build an atomic weapon. At their last meeting in the Swiss city of Lausanne in April, they reached a framework deal with Tehran that would avert this. Iran would sharply restrict its programme for the next 10 years, maintaining a limited uranium enrichment capability and curbing atomic research. In return, the west would begin reducing the energy and financial sanctions that have blighted the Iranian economy.



As all sides haggle over the final details ahead of next Tuesday’s deadline, an agreement suddenly looks uncertain. Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, appeared to pull back this week, demanding that most international sanctions be lifted before Tehran dismantles parts of its nuclear infrastructure. He has also repeated his refusal to allow international inspections of Iranian military sites. In response, a group of former close security advisers to President Barack Obama has warned him that he must not make further concessions."



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