US adviser says nuke deal would ‘roll back’ Iran military

A nuclear deal with Iran will significantly roll back Tehran’s military capability, US Vice President Joe Biden’s national security adviser tells a conference in Qatar on Monday.

Dr Colin H. Kahl, speaking at the US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, says the current deal being hammered out is the best on offer, despite many skeptical voices in the US and elsewhere, including Gulf Arab states.

“Under the deal we are negotiating… Iran’s military capability will be substantially rolled back,” says Kahl. “The deal we are negotiating makes us and the region safer.”

The ongoing talks to finalize a nuclear accord between Iran and world powers, including the United States, are deadlocked weeks ahead of a June 30 deadline.

Negotiations at the weekend in Geneva, Switzerland, failed to bridge differences between Washington and Tehran, especially over the crucial issue of inspections of military sites.

Other sticking points remain, including the possible military dimensions of the Iranian nuclear program and the demands by the P5+1 group for UN inspections of Iranian military bases.

Kahl said on Monday that “today” it would take Iran two-to-three months to produce enough fissile material for one bomb.

But despite criticism, he said a negotiated settlement was the best solution.

“In the absence of comprehensive agreement to deal with this challenge and constrain Iran’s program, Iran would likely install and begin operating tens of thousands of fissile centrifuges in the near future,” he added.

The forum is a three-day long conference involving politicians, policy advisers and academics from across the Middle East and the United States.

— AFP