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Tense Iran Nuclear Talks Extended, Another Session Possible
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/w...ar-talks-resume-in-moscow.html?pagewanted=all
MOSCOW Negotiators from Iran and six world powers scrambled to preserve forward momentum for talks on Irans disputed nuclear program on Tuesday, tentatively agreeing to hold another round of meetings the fourth since April despite little visible progress toward a compromise that would stop the drift toward war.
The talks on Tuesday, the second day of the negotiations, had a stop-and-go quality to them, and were extended repeatedly, evidently so that the sides could negotiate over the status of the next round of talks, which is expected to be held in China or Kazakhstan. It was unclear whether the negotiators, ensconced in a Moscow hotel across from the Foreign Ministry, would keep talking into Wednesday.
Russian officials, as the conferences hosts, met twice with the head of the Iranian delegation on Tuesday, in an evident attempt to keep the process from derailing.
The outcome of Mondays talks made clear that the room for agreement is vanishingly small. Iran has concentrated its efforts on a weighty concession it seeks from the world powers: an acknowledgment that it has the right under international treaties to enrich uranium. In exchange, Iran which has repeatedly asserted its nuclear program is peaceful has signaled it may be willing to stop enriching uranium to 20 percent purity, considered a technical step short of bomb grade.
The six powers, known as the P5-plus-1 because they include the five permanent members of the Security Council Russia, China, the United States, Britain and France plus Germany, have demanded that Iran abide by prior Security Council resolutions to suspend all uranium enrichment. They also have demanded that the Iranians ship the 20 percent-enriched uranium out of the country and shut down an underground enrichment facility.
Israel, which considers Iran its most dangerous enemy, has warned that it may preemptively strike suspected Iranian nuclear targets if it decides that the talks are not making progress, an action that many fear would lead to a new Middle East war. That possibility is one of the chief underlying motivations for the P5-plus-1 negotiators to make some progress.
Rajab S. Safarov, director of Moscows Center on Iran Studies, said negotiators were under additional pressure to avoid a breakdown of the process after the publication of a joint statement on Monday by President Barack Obama and President Vladimir V. Putin, which urged the importance of finding a diplomatic solution. The two superpowers are united in their desire to avoid a war, he said.
The international community was prepared for the idea that the Moscow talks were a last resort, Mr. Safarov said. If the talks have no success, the cooperation of the group of six with Iran would end, and that is a green light to Israel to take concrete steps. But the European Union is not prepared for this at the moment, and the United States doesnt even want to hear about radical steps until next year, and Israel cant take these steps alone.
The head of the influential National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Irans parliament, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, told Irans semiofficial Mehr news agency on Tuesday that recognition of the right to enrich is a red line for Tehran and the country will not forego its legal right.
An Iranian diplomat attached to the delegation said on Tuesday that the talks outcome depended on how the world powers respond to Tehrans demands.
Iran is also hoping for a rollback of the tough sanctions by the European Union and the United States scheduled to take effect in the coming weeks and which will further isolate Tehran from world oil and banking markets.
Iran received no such assurances on Monday from the six world powers.
But on Tuesday a senior Russian official was quoted as saying the negotiations with Iran would not collapse.
I dont think anything will break down. We will have a reasonable outcome, Sergei Ryabkov, a deputy foreign minister who leads the Russian delegation at the discussions, told Reuters after meeting representatives of the world powers here.
.
On Monday, a spokesman for Catherine Ashton, who is the European Unions top foreign policy official and the lead negotiator with Iran for the P5-plus-1 countries, described the first days talks as intense and tough.
In the Monday afternoon session, Iranian negotiators picked apart a package of enticements that the six world powers first offered last month in Baghdad, which includes parts for old American civilian aircraft and fuel for an Iranian nuclear reactor, with the promise of more sanctions relief in return for specific Iranian actions to come into compliance over time.
They responded to our package of proposals from Baghdad, but in doing so, brought up lots of questions and well-known positions, including past grievances, said Ms. Ashtons spokesman, Michael Mann. Analysts said the six powers might be willing to relax one of the sanctions that is threatening Iran: a provision that bans insurers based in Europe from covering ships that carry Iranian oil anywhere in the world.
The measure would significantly reduce Irans shipments to Asia, which make up most of the 2.2 million barrels it still exports daily. It met with resistance last month from Britain, a center of the marine insurance industry.
Cliff Kupchan, an Iran analyst at Eurasia Group, a consulting firm, said the ban could be carried out on schedule and then eased month by month if Iran were seen to be complying with the P5-plus-1s central demands.
I cant think of anything else that they could give, or that has been discussed among people involved, Mr. Kupchan said.
Mr. Mann, Ms. Ashtons spokesman, said the six powers were not offering to delay or waive sanctions until Iran had proved its willingness to comply with international agreements.
Sanctions policy by definition is always under review, but can only be eased in response to real changes on the ground, so there is no question that our sanctions will come into force on the first of July, he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/w...ar-talks-resume-in-moscow.html?pagewanted=all
MOSCOW Negotiators from Iran and six world powers scrambled to preserve forward momentum for talks on Irans disputed nuclear program on Tuesday, tentatively agreeing to hold another round of meetings the fourth since April despite little visible progress toward a compromise that would stop the drift toward war.
The talks on Tuesday, the second day of the negotiations, had a stop-and-go quality to them, and were extended repeatedly, evidently so that the sides could negotiate over the status of the next round of talks, which is expected to be held in China or Kazakhstan. It was unclear whether the negotiators, ensconced in a Moscow hotel across from the Foreign Ministry, would keep talking into Wednesday.
Russian officials, as the conferences hosts, met twice with the head of the Iranian delegation on Tuesday, in an evident attempt to keep the process from derailing.
The outcome of Mondays talks made clear that the room for agreement is vanishingly small. Iran has concentrated its efforts on a weighty concession it seeks from the world powers: an acknowledgment that it has the right under international treaties to enrich uranium. In exchange, Iran which has repeatedly asserted its nuclear program is peaceful has signaled it may be willing to stop enriching uranium to 20 percent purity, considered a technical step short of bomb grade.
The six powers, known as the P5-plus-1 because they include the five permanent members of the Security Council Russia, China, the United States, Britain and France plus Germany, have demanded that Iran abide by prior Security Council resolutions to suspend all uranium enrichment. They also have demanded that the Iranians ship the 20 percent-enriched uranium out of the country and shut down an underground enrichment facility.
Israel, which considers Iran its most dangerous enemy, has warned that it may preemptively strike suspected Iranian nuclear targets if it decides that the talks are not making progress, an action that many fear would lead to a new Middle East war. That possibility is one of the chief underlying motivations for the P5-plus-1 negotiators to make some progress.
Rajab S. Safarov, director of Moscows Center on Iran Studies, said negotiators were under additional pressure to avoid a breakdown of the process after the publication of a joint statement on Monday by President Barack Obama and President Vladimir V. Putin, which urged the importance of finding a diplomatic solution. The two superpowers are united in their desire to avoid a war, he said.
The international community was prepared for the idea that the Moscow talks were a last resort, Mr. Safarov said. If the talks have no success, the cooperation of the group of six with Iran would end, and that is a green light to Israel to take concrete steps. But the European Union is not prepared for this at the moment, and the United States doesnt even want to hear about radical steps until next year, and Israel cant take these steps alone.
The head of the influential National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Irans parliament, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, told Irans semiofficial Mehr news agency on Tuesday that recognition of the right to enrich is a red line for Tehran and the country will not forego its legal right.
An Iranian diplomat attached to the delegation said on Tuesday that the talks outcome depended on how the world powers respond to Tehrans demands.
Iran is also hoping for a rollback of the tough sanctions by the European Union and the United States scheduled to take effect in the coming weeks and which will further isolate Tehran from world oil and banking markets.
Iran received no such assurances on Monday from the six world powers.
But on Tuesday a senior Russian official was quoted as saying the negotiations with Iran would not collapse.
I dont think anything will break down. We will have a reasonable outcome, Sergei Ryabkov, a deputy foreign minister who leads the Russian delegation at the discussions, told Reuters after meeting representatives of the world powers here.
.
On Monday, a spokesman for Catherine Ashton, who is the European Unions top foreign policy official and the lead negotiator with Iran for the P5-plus-1 countries, described the first days talks as intense and tough.
In the Monday afternoon session, Iranian negotiators picked apart a package of enticements that the six world powers first offered last month in Baghdad, which includes parts for old American civilian aircraft and fuel for an Iranian nuclear reactor, with the promise of more sanctions relief in return for specific Iranian actions to come into compliance over time.
They responded to our package of proposals from Baghdad, but in doing so, brought up lots of questions and well-known positions, including past grievances, said Ms. Ashtons spokesman, Michael Mann. Analysts said the six powers might be willing to relax one of the sanctions that is threatening Iran: a provision that bans insurers based in Europe from covering ships that carry Iranian oil anywhere in the world.
The measure would significantly reduce Irans shipments to Asia, which make up most of the 2.2 million barrels it still exports daily. It met with resistance last month from Britain, a center of the marine insurance industry.
Cliff Kupchan, an Iran analyst at Eurasia Group, a consulting firm, said the ban could be carried out on schedule and then eased month by month if Iran were seen to be complying with the P5-plus-1s central demands.
I cant think of anything else that they could give, or that has been discussed among people involved, Mr. Kupchan said.
Mr. Mann, Ms. Ashtons spokesman, said the six powers were not offering to delay or waive sanctions until Iran had proved its willingness to comply with international agreements.
Sanctions policy by definition is always under review, but can only be eased in response to real changes on the ground, so there is no question that our sanctions will come into force on the first of July, he said.
