State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf on Friday stood by U.S. officials’ decision to release a fact sheet separate from the Iranians providing details on Thursday’s framework for an agreement to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb.
After announcing a breakthrough in negotiations Thursday, U.S. officials released the parameters of the framework for a final deal separately from the Iranians.
In the U.S. version, officials highlighted broad tenets of the deal including agreements that Tehran’s stockpile of enriched uranium would be reduced by 98 percent and its installed centrifuges cut by two-thirds. Sanctions would be suspended after the International Atomic Energy Association has verified that Iran has lived up to its commitments, a process that Secretary of State John Kerry subsequently said could take up to roughly six months.
The Iranians released a separate statement in Farsi, and Harf said she doesn’t know how the two documents differ.
“I don’t read Farsi yet, unfortunately,” she said, encouraging the press to obtain the public document through Google searches.
When reporters asked Harf why the U.S. and Iranians had released separate documents instead of one joint statement or fact sheet, she said only that “we believed this was the most appropriate” way to announce the basic tenets of the framework “at this point.”
“We had discussions with them about what we would say publicly. I’m not really concerned about how they will sell this back home,” she added, noting that a final agreement is still in the making.
“We’re quite confident about the parameters as they have been articulated, and that’s most important to us,” she added.
Harf, who returned to Washington with U.S. negotiators at 6 a.m. Friday, noted that the next round of talks have to be scheduled. The deadline for a final deal is June 30.
