Doha: A nuclear deal with Iran will significantly roll back Tehran’s military capability, US Vice-President Joe Biden’s national security adviser told a conference in Qatar on Monday.
Dr Colin H. Kahl, speaking at the US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, said the current deal being hammered out was the best on offer, despite many sceptical 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,” said Kahl.
“The deal we are negotiating makes us and the region safer.”
The ongoing talks to finalise a nuclear accord between Iran and world powers, including the United States, are deadlocked weeks ahead of a 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 programme and the demands by the P5+1 group for UN inspections of Iranian military bases.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry who is in Geneva negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran will be flown back to the US after he broke his leg on Sunday.
An orthopaedic surgeon will accompany him on the flight from Geneva to the United States for treatment of Kerry’s broken leg, the State Department said Monday.
Kerry, 71, fractured his right femur on Sunday when he struck a kerb with his bicycle and fell on a regular Tour de France route southeast of Geneva. He has been receiving treatment at Geneva’s main medical centre, HUG.
Earlier, Kirby described Kerry as “in great spirits and active,” making “a range of phone calls including with the president.” He “never lost consciousness, his injury is not life-threatening and he is expected to make a full recovery,” Kirby said.
