If there was any confusion whether Iran thought it had gotten the best of John Kerry and the Obama administration as a result of the non-deal April 2 "framework" announcement for some future possible deal, it can be swept away following a Reuters report [7]that Iran will only sign a final nuclear accord with six world powers if all sanctions imposed over its disputed atomic work are lifted on the same day, President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech on Thursday.
In other words, Iran is now dictating conditions to Obama, something it would not consider doing if it thought it did not had the leverage, or if it actually cared about how said negotiations ultimately conclude.
From Reuters:
"We will not sign any deal unless all sanctions are lifted on the same day ... We want a win-win deal for all parties involved in the nuclear talks," Rouhani said.
Since the preliminary agreement was reached, Iran and the United States seem to have different interpretations over some issues, including the pace and extent of sanctions removal.
"Our goal in the talks (with major powers) is to preserve our nation's nuclear rights. We want an outcome that will be in everyone's benefit," Rouhani said in a ceremony to mark Iran's National Day of Nuclear Technology.
And just in case his speech may have been lost in translation, here again, for the benefit of John Kerry, is Iran's presidential assessment of the winners and losers in the Lausanne negotiations.
"The Iranian nation has been and will be the victor in the negotiations."
Iran insists all nuclear-related United Nations resolutions, as well as U.S. and EU nuclear-related economic sanctions, will be lifted immediately once a final accord is signed.
But the United States said on Monday that sanctions would have to be phased out gradually under the comprehensive nuclear pact.
The U.S. and EU sanctions have choked off nearly 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian exports since early 2012, reducing its oil exports by 60 percent to around 1 million barrels a day.
"Our main gain in the talks was the fact that U.S. President Barack Obama acknowledged that Iranians will not surrender to bullying, sanctions and threats," Rouhani said.
"It is a triumph for Iran that the first military power in the world has admitted Iranians will not bow to pressure."
So why the sudden surge in perceived negotiating leverage by the middle eastern nation? Well, the full backing of Russia and China may have something to do with it, just as we explained in the hours leading up to the non-deal announcement, and as was confirmed overnight with a report (more shortly) that China is about to build a pipeline from Iran to Pakistan to deliver Iran's massive resources that much closer to Beijing.
