Posted: 04/10/2015 at 2:46pm | IP Logged

Premature Congrats? Iran Pans 'Meaningless' Deal

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CBN News

The much-touted preliminary nuclear deal with Iran just hit a major stumbling block: Iran's supreme religious leader and the man who calls all the shots in this hardline Islamic country.

On Thursday, in Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's first public comments about the nuclear negotiations, he accused the White House of lying, being deceptive and having "devilish" intentions about his country.

"The other party, who is stubborn, treacherous, and hard to deal with, and is known to be after trickery, after haggling, after stabbing others in the back, and so on, may want to encircle our nation and our negotiators with limits, when it comes to discussing the details," the Iran leader said.

According to Khamenei, those details are not a done deal.

"Some people congratulate me or others on the framework deal, but this is meaningless. What congratulations? What has happened so far neither guarantees a deal - nor talks leading to a deal," he charged.

Khamenei said any "supervision measures" over his country's nuclear activities are out of the question. He also ruled out any inspection of Iran's military sites.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani echoed similar sentiments, saying they will not a sign a deal unless all sanctions are lifted immediately.

"We will not sign any agreement unless all economic sanctions are lifted at once, on the very first day of the implementation of the agreement," Rouhani said.

Those comments contradict Washington's position insisting sanctions will be gradually lifted, depending on Iran's full compliance.

Meanwhile, The Telegraph reports Iran has formed a top secret team to infiltrate the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. body that will inspect Iran's nuclear sites, to try and hide more of its nuclear activities. For years, the Islamic Republic has hidden key nuclear facilities from inspectors.

Israel, wary of any deal that would keep Iran's nuclear facilities intact, is again warning of serious consequences.

"Our opposition to a deal based on the framework is not because we seek war, but because the terms of the framework - which will leave an unreformed Iran stronger, richer and with a clear path to a bomb - make war more likely," Israel's defense minister writes in a Washington Post op-ed.

The United States, along with five other world powers, has until June 30 to come up with a final deal on Iran's nuclear program.