Naharnet

Berri Says Iran Nuke Deal Would Reflect Positively on Presidential Crisis

Speaker Nabih Berri has expected positive developments in the presidential deadlock after a possible deal over Iran's nuclear program.

Al-Mustaqbal daily on Monday quoted Berri as saying that any agreement between the P5+1 group of powers and Tehran would lead to a

“satisfactory atmosphere in the region, including Lebanon, which is a fertile ground for solutions and settlements.”

Berri told his visitors, according to the newspaper, that the nuclear deal would help elect a new president and would reflect positively on the dialogue between the rival parties.

Lebanon has been without a head of state since President Michel Suleiman's term ended in May last year.

Iran-backed Hizbullah, Change and Reform bloc and other MPs from the March 8 alliance have been boycotting the parliamentary sessions aimed at electing a new president.

Officials have said that the United States and Iran are drafting elements of a deal that commits the Iranians to a 40 percent cut in the number of machines they use to enrich uranium.

The Obama administration is seeking a deal that stretches the time Tehran would need to make a nuclear weapon from the present two to three months to at least a year.

G.K.

H.K.


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