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Kerry says Iran must prove nuclear program is peaceful | The Times of Israel.

Ahead of meeting with Netanyahu, US secretary of state says Tehran will have to live up to standards of other states; PM says world should not accept partial deal

Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta bids farewell to US Secretary of State John Kerry after a meeting in Rome, Italy on October 23, 2013. (photo credit: State Department photo/ Public Domain)

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Iran would have to prove to the world that its nuclear program was not military, seeking to allay Israeli fears ahead of a marathon meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Rome.

“We will need to know that actions are being taken, which make it clear, undeniably clear, fail-safe to the world, that whatever program is pursued is indeed a peaceful program,” Kerry told reporters in a brief press statement before the scheduled seven-hour meeting.

“No deal is better than a bad deal,” he added, echoing a statement he made earlier this month.

He added that the US would ”pursue a diplomatic initiative but with eyes wide open,” and said Iran would have to use the same standards as other states to prove its nuclear program is peaceful.

Netanyahu said the world should not accept what he called a “partial deal” to curb Iran’s nuclear program — just as it would not have allowed the Syrian government to keep any of its chemical weapons stockpile.

“Iran must not have a nuclear weapons capability, which means that they shouldn’t have centrifuges (for) enrichment, they shouldn’t have a plutonium heavy-water plant, which is used only for nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said, according to a Reuters report. ”They should get rid of (their amassed) fissile material, and they shouldn’t have underground nuclear facilities, (which are) underground for one reason — for military purposes.”

The meeting is planned for Kerry and Netanyahu to discuss recent talks between the group of six world powers and Iran regarding its nuclear program.

Diplomats have scheduled another meeting for early next month amid cautious optimism that they may reach a breakthrough.

A deal would reportedly involve allowing Iran to keep enriched uranium below 20 percent. Israel maintains that Tehran must not be allowed to enrich any uranium, saying even a small amount will allow it to break out toward a bomb.

Netanyahu arrived in Rome Tuesday and urged continued pressure on Iran in a meeting with his Italian counterpart Enrico Letta Tuesday night.

“Iran says it wants a deal in which it will have civilian nuclear energy, but that is not the real issue,” Netanyahu told Letta. “Many nations in Europe, North America, and Asia have nuclear energy without centrifuges or plutonium. The only reason Iran is demanding centrifuges and plutonium is to enable it to produce enough materials for a nuclear bomb. This is why the UN Security Council reached many resolutions, including one in 2010 that called for Iran to destroy the centrifuges and cease the production of plutonium.”

“If Iran retains these capabilities, it will be able to progress quickly toward the production of a bomb,” the prime minister continued. “It can move quickly from a low level of 3.5% enrichment straight to 90% without the intermediate level of 20%. We cannot let them do this. Our efforts toward peace can be severely harmed if Iran succeeds in it goals.”

“It will be tragic if it succeeds in avoiding the sanctions,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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