Diplomat: White House floated Obama visit to Iran

The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was not aware of any actual promise of a U.S. presidential visit made to the Iranians in the event of a final agreement over Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure. He said the general idea was previously discussed between the U.S. and Iran as a possibility in the event of a final deal.

The diplomat said he believed a U.S. presidential visit was floated by the Americans as an added incentive to entice Tehran to sign a deal that could see the restoration of diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Iran.

The White House flatly denied the diplomat’s claim.

“This is completely not true,” National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan told WND in an email.

France is a member of the P5+1 group of six world powers leading the nuclear negotiations with Iran. The other parties are the U.S., China, Russia, the United Kingdom and Germany.

France has been critical of the Obama administration’s handling of the Iranian nuclear negotiations.

Gérard Araud, France’s ambassador in Washington, took a pointed shot at the White House when he tweeted March 2: “Repeating that an agreement has to be reached by the end of March is a bad tactic. Pressure on ourselves to conclude at any price.”

François Delattre, France’s ambassador to the U.N., complained last month that Iran’s progress on Iranian nuclear inspections was “insufficient.”

In December 2013, the Kuwaiti news outlet Al-Jarida quoted what it said was a U.S. diplomat claiming Obama was seeking to visit Iran within a year.

Paul Brandus, founder of West Wing Reports, tweeted Thursday that he heard from an unnamed “usual suspect” that Obama “would like to visit Iran before end of his presidency – now 21 months away.”

The White House and the State Department announced Thursday the “parameters” of a final nuclear deal had been reached while admitting “important implementation details are still subject to negotiation, and nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”

Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz told CNN that those “celebrating in Lausanne are disconnected from reality, one in which Iran has refused to make concessions on the nuclear issue and continues to threaten Israel and all other countries in the Middle East.”

“Since the statement is far from being a real agreement, we will continue our efforts to explain and convince the world in the hope of preventing a bad agreement, or at least make the necessary amendments and improvements,” Steinitz said.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry’s Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, boasted: “We will continue enriching (uranium); we will continue research and development.”

The Washington Free Beacon reported the Western powers have agreed to allow Iran to continue operating the core aspects of its nuclear program and terminate all sanctions against the Islamic Republic.