Iran nuclear negotiators will try to reach a compromise

 

The negotiators of the great powers and Iran begin Thursday in Geneva to discuss in detail a draft interim agreement on Iran’s nuclear and will try hard to “reconcile their red lines’ respective to reach a compromise.

“Right to enrich” uranium on one side, “firmness” of the other, before the resumption of talks Thursday, the parties reiterated their terms of negotiation.

“The main obstacle is the lack of confidence because of what happened at the last meeting (November 9). As long as the trust is not found, we cannot continue constructive negotiations,” he told state television.

Meanwhile in Paris, the head of French diplomacy, Laurent Fabius, a “hoped” the conclusion of a “strong agreement” in Geneva. “This agreement is possible only on the basis of strength,” said he, however, repeated on television France 2.

Concrete negotiations on a proposed by the P5 +1 (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany) text begin Thursday.

Third round of negotiations

“We’ll go in hard, discuss real issue’s Work will be more precise, it becomes concrete,” said a Western negotiator after the first day of talks in Geneva, where diplomats gathered Wednesday for the third round of negotiations since mid-October.

Discussions “detailed” stand between the Iranian delegation led by chief diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and the chief diplomat of the EU, Catherine Ashton. They focus on an agreed text on November 9.

This text is an “interim agreement” providing for a six-month limitation of Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for a limited easing of sanctions. Details are not known, but “everyone knows what are the main issues,” said Michael Mann, spokesman for Ashton, citing particularly the issue of uranium enrichment, “right “claimed by the Iranians but denounced by Westerners who suspect Tehran of wanting to develop nuclear weapons.

The main issues therefore concern the suspension of enrichment, and the fate of the Iranian stock 186 kg of uranium enriched to 20% (threshold to arrive quickly at a rate of 90% enrichment opening the door to the nuclear weapon).

They also relate to the heavy water reactor in Arak construction, which allows producing plutonium for military purposes, and is the second die to make an atomic bomb.

“The problem will be to reconcile our respective red lines,” said a Western diplomatic source, while these lines were clearly articulated sides, and that the statements by raising the voltage multiplied.

Wednesday, before the resumption of talks in Geneva, the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reiterated that his country would not back down on its “nuclear rights”.

“I insist on the consolidation of nuclear rights of Iran,” Khamenei said, emphasizing the “red lines” of the nuclear program, including uranium enrichment on Iranian soil and the refusal to close Site underground Fordo enrichment.

The Ayatollah also launched a sharp attack against Israel saying that “the Zionist regime” was “doomed to extinction.”

French President François Hollande has urged Iran to “provide answers and not provocation.” U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, rejected in advance any agreement that would “save time” in Tehran and does not meet the “core concerns” of the international community.

Anxious to reassure hawks of Congress, who want tougher sanctions against Tehran, and Israel, hostile to any easing of the sanctions, U.S. sources in Geneva also argued that the counterparties offered to Iran in case of agreement would remain “fairly small.”

The lifting of sanctions would focus on unfreezing of Iranian financial assets held in foreign banks.

“The negotiations are difficult. They are hard,” said one of the sources, cautious on the possibility of reaching an agreement before the end of the week.

“This is far from being in the pocket, but it is pragmatic, and there is a real discussion,” nuanced another Western source.

Iran nuclear negotiators will try to reach a compromise