Iranian authorities downplayed comments made by US officials on the historic nuclear agreement recently hammered out by Iran and six world powers, saying they are made only for "domestic consumption."
US Secretary of State John Kerry and other senior officials of the Obama administration have launched an intense lobbying effort to persuade Congress into green-lighting the accord, insisting that the deal will curb Iran's nuclear programme and fix its nuclear "breakout" period to at least one year, wrote The Washington Free Beacon.
The "breakout" period is the "time required to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for one nuclear weapon," said The Washington Institute.
However, Tehran dismissed the Obama administration officials' rhetoric as something made to pacify opponents in the Republican-led Congress and Zionist lobbyists, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency in Iran.
"The remarks by the Western officials are ambiguous comments which are merely uttered for domestic use and therefore, we should say that there is no ambiguity in this (nuclear) agreement," said Hamid Baeidinejad, a nuclear deal negotiator and director general for political affairs at the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Baeidinejad said the remarks by US officials after the inking of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action are only meant "to soothe the internal conditions prevailing over debates on the nuclear agreement in that country," Fars News Agency wrote.
The nuclear agreement, reached by Iran and world powers last month to end the 13-year-old nuclear standoff, will restrict Iran's nuclear activities in return for the lifting of economic sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy.
Both the US Congress and the Iranian parliament now have less than 60 days to review the deal to either approve it or thumb it down.
In a related development, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran asked world powers to stick to their commitments under the deal during a meeting with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
"This agreement is not against any country and our cooperation and consultations to settle the regional problems, including fight against terrorism, humanitarian aids, and materialisation of nations' demands can prove it," Rouhani said.
The commitments include lifting sanctions on the "financial empire of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei," worth almost $100 billion, and prohibiting American inspectors from stepping foot in all Iranian nuclear sites, said The Beacon.
The empire is composed of "a large network of foundations and companies that personally enrich the Islamic Republic's leader," The Beacon previously reported.
