Iran's bomb threatening the Middle East, in Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs animated video. Photo: Screenshot.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry tried to manage expectations surrounding the ongoing negotiations with world powers over its nuclear program, with a spokeswoman warning the West not to demand too much.

“We have always announced that the western sides should stop raising excessive demands and insisting on their illogical requests and don’t pursue their past mistakes,” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham told reporters in Tehran on Tuesday, as reported by semi-official state news agency Fars.

“In the Vienna negotiations, different issues which have been under negotiations since the first day were discussed and we have stated since the very first day that we don’t negotiate on defensive and missile issues, and the talks have been pursued based on this (principle) to the last round of negotiations,” she said.

Late Friday, Iran’s deputy chief negotiator Seyed Abbas Araqchi said Iran would not accept a discussion of its defense program and will only agree to a deal which respects its “rights,” Fars reported.

“We stand firm on our rights,” Araqchi said. “We will have 6 more months if we fail to work out a deal by July 20.”

Araqchi said that Iran is not in a rush to push the talks into a final phase of concluding an agreement. “There is no push to obtain an agreement by July 20 at any price.”

“We (only) concede to an agreement which will be in line with our interests, meet our demands and establish the Iranian nation’s rights,” Araqchi said. “We hope that the talks continue in a logical, rational and realistic manner and yield result within the deadline.”

On Twitter, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that wrong illusions should be removed and the present opportunity shouldn’t be lost as in 2005, Fars reported.

On Tuesday, Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs published an animated video explaining the risks of Iran retaining break out capability that could allow it to follow North Korea in gaining nuclear weapons.