Iran hails ‘important progress’ toward deal

Iran and world powers have made “important progress” toward a final deal aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for eased economic sanctions, a senior Iranian negotiator says.

“We have made important progress on the final text, but less so on the annexes, so work continues,” deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi is quoted as saying by state media as he arrived in Vienna for the latest round of nuclear talks.

Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls for unity in the Muslim world in order to counter “oppression” from the West, on the anniversary of his predecessor’s death.

In a speech marking 26 years since the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, Khamenei also ruled out any warming of ties with the United States, one of several world powers negotiating a nuclear deal with Tehran.

“We must pay attention to conspiracies seeking to divide on the basis of religion, between Shiites and Sunnis, or on an ethnic basis,” he says.

Khamenei praises Khomeini for having coined the term “the Great Satan” to refer to the United States, with which diplomatic ties have been severed since 1980.

“In recent events, we have seen that we cannot have confidence in the promises of the oppressors and their declarations during private meetings,” he says.

— AFP