Clinton says Iran's talks with world powers not "open-ended"
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E-mail Xinhua, April 4, 2012
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday pressed Iran for concrete commitments on its disputed nuclear program, warning that its upcoming talks with the world powers are not "open-ended."
The talks are "not an open-ended session for both parties to talk around each other without ever coming to any agreement," Clinton said at the Virginia Military Institute, referring to the upcoming talks between Iran and the six world powers, namely the United States, Britain, France, Russia, and China plus Germany, also known as G5+1.
"We expect to see concrete commitments from Iran that it will come clean on its nuclear program and live up to its international obligations," she said.
Clinton said on Saturday in Saudi Arabia that six world powers and Iran had agreed on meeting in Turkey's Istanbul on April 13. However, reports said on Monday that the time and venue for the talks have not been finalized yet.
Vowing to enforce "the most comprehensive package of sanctions in history" against the Islamic state, Clinton said, while receiving the Distinguished Diplomat Award at the military institute, that the pressure is forcing Iran's leaders back to the negotiating table, and hoped that it will result in a peaceful resolution of its controversial nuclear program.
At the end of last year, U.S. President Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act, a part of which is aimed at choking off Iran's crucial oil revenue by targeting its central bank and financial sector. The law allows the Obama administration to slap sanctions on foreign banks that engage in oil transactions with Iran's central bank and cut them off from the American financial system.
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