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Will Iran Leader's Ultimatum Sink Nuclear Deal?

CBN

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Negotiators meeting in Austria are racing to complete a nuclear agreement with Iran by June 30.

Despite a broken leg, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Vienna on Friday, hoping to save the talks from collapse.

The news comes after an announcement Wednesay by Ayatollah Khamenei that before any agreement is signed -- economic, financial, and banking sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic must be lifted.

The "lifting of sanctions cannot depend on the implementation of Iran's obligations... No, we absolutely do not accept that," Khamenei said.

The framework agreement reached last April allows Iran to continue its nuclear program, but would limit the number of centrifuges that could be maintained over a 10-year period.

Sanctions would be phased out as international nuclear inspectors verify Iranian compliance. But on Wednesday, Iran announced no foreigners would be allowed on Iranian military facilities where much of its nuclear activity is hidden.

The Associated Press said it has obtained a confidential document disclosing that American negotiators have offered Iran high tech reactors and other advanced nuclear equipment in exchange for reductions in its nuclear development program.

In April, President Barack Obama insisted his proposed nuclear agreement with Iran would be effective.

"It is a good deal, a deal that meets our core objectives," Obama announced at the time. "This framework would cut off every pathway that Iran could take to develop a nuclear weapon."

But many Obama administration critics say the deal would actually allow Iran to eventually develop nuclear weapons. Among them is the Clarion Project's Ryan Mauro, who told CBN News he's concerned about Iranian sponsored terrorism.

"One of the questions we have is that when Iran gets billions and billions of dollars as a result of this nuclear deal, it will not only be funneled back into their nuclear program, but back into the terrorist apparatus that is helping to kill our soldiers in Afghanistan and will likely kill our soldiers in Iraq as well," he explained.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deal is getting worse by the day "and it should not be signed."

"It has been said, 'better no deal than a bad deal,' 'Better no deal than a terrible deal,' and that's what the choice is today," the Israeli leader said. "I urge you to make your voices heard in your respective countries because it is not too late to stop Iran; it's not too late to stop this bad deal."

Ayatollah Khamenei himself has said no deal is better than a bad deal.

But with only five days to go before the final agreement deadline, it looks as if Kerry and Western negotiators will offer more concessions and take what they can get.

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