CIA director John Brennan said that the United States has a global mission to stop Iran from destabilizing the region.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The United States is determined to maintain pressure on Iran after a deal on the Islamic republic's nuclear problem is reached, CIA director John Brennan said on Sunday.

International mediators have been negotiating a deal with Iran aimed at limiting its nuclear activity. Tehran insists it has the right to enrich uranium and that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes but some mediators fear the country have nuclear weapon ambitions.

The CIA director said that the United States has a global mission to stop Iran from destabilizing the region.

“The nuclear program is one issue that we’re hoping to be able to halt; but also, we see that Iran is still a state sponsor of terrorism,” Brennan said during an exclusive interview broadcast by Fox News.

Brennan added that there will be “tremendous costs and consequences” for Iran if the country “were to decide to go for a breakout” with its nuclear program. According to the CIA director, the Unites States possesses all intelligence data necessary to have “a good appreciation of what the Iranian nuclear program consists of.”

Earlier on Sunday, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran’s negotiations with Washington are confined to the nuclear program issue, and any further cooperation with Washington in the Middle East is impossible.

Khamenei added that the nuclear deal is possible but stressed that Tehran would resist Washington’s “bullying” approach and would never accept what the US government wants to impose by force.

Tehran and the international mediators have agreed to reach a political framework agreement on the nuclear issue in March, and a long-term comprehensive deal by July.

The next round of talks will begin in the Swiss city of Lausanne on March 26.

By Sputnik