Al Bhatti
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November 9, 2014
US secretary of state John Kerry, right, and Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif, left, shake hands as Omani minister responsible for foreign affairs Yussef bin Alawi, secod right, and former EU top diplomat Catherine Ashton look on during their meeting in Muscat on November 9, 2014.
US, Iran seek nuclear breakthrough amid domestic pressures
The United States and Iran began high-level talks in Oman on Sunday ahead of a looming deadline for a deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme.
US secretary of state John Kerry started a meeting with Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif to try to close substantial gaps before November 24, when an interim agreement is meant to be turned into a comprehensive long-term settlement.
The meeting follows the revelation that US president Barack Obama reportedly wrote to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to push for a deal, arguing the Islamic republic and the West have shared regional interests.
The apparent reference to the fight against ISIL militants in Syria and Iraq, however, was played down by Mr Kerry in Beijing on Saturday, with the US diplomat saying “there is no linkage whatsoever” with the nuclear talks.
Despite the approaching deadline, Iran and the P5+1 group – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany – are far apart on what capabilities Iran’s nuclear programme should have.
The West has as yet been unconvinced by Iran’s denials that it has never sought a nuclear weapon, while Tehran insists its atomic activities are for peaceful, civilian energy purposes only.
A deal, for the West, aims to put a bomb forever beyond Iran’s reach.
Mr Kerry and Mr Zarif began their talks at 11:30am, with former EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also present.
At issue is the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges Iran should be allowed to keep spinning in exchange for sanctions relief and rigorous inspections at its nuclear sites.
Iran wants “industrial-grade enrichment” beyond its current capabilities while the world powers want a reduction.
However, domestic politics were hanging heavily over the talks, given the loss in midterm elections of the senate by Mr Obama’s Democrats to the Republican party, members of whom have consistently bridled at the White House’s negotiations with Iran.
If talks go sour in the coming weeks it is thought the US congress may respond with fresh sanctions on Iran.
Mr Obama has the power to veto them, but the prospect of new penalties could disrupt an already protracted process.
Mr Zarif is also under pressure, with members of parliament criticising the talks and threatening to scupper a deal if legislators themselves do not have a say in ratifying it.
Although officially supportive, hardliners in Tehran have often been ambivalent about the negotiations, which officially resumed last autumn after earlier secret talks with Washington in Oman set the wheels in motion.
On the plane to Muscat on Saturday, Mr Zarif told reporters that Iran and the P5+1 have concentrated on “solutions rather than differences” since talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September.
“There is still a gap between the two parties on the size of the enrichment programme and the mechanism for lifting sanctions,” the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
“If the other party acts with good political will, we can reach an agreement.”
The surprise election last year of president Hassan Rouhani, who had pledged to revive Iran’s sanctions-battered economy, was a turning point on the nuclear issue but progress has been elusive since an interim deal came into effect in January.
After Sunday’s meeting between Mr Kerry and Mr Zarif, the political directors of the P5+1 powers will hold talks in Muscat on Tuesday. Mr Ashton, who will see out the nuclear negotiations until November 24, will also chair that meeting.
The talks move back to Vienna on November 18 for a final push towards the deadline six days later.
A comprehensive agreement would represent a hard-earned foreign policy win for Mr Obama in a region where the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran has hung for more than a decade.
Iran would stand to benefit economically, both from sanctions relief and from incoming foreign businesses whose operations in the Islamic republic are currently hobbled by banking restrictions imposed on Tehran as punishment for its nuclear activities.
US, Iran seek nuclear breakthrough amid domestic pressures | The National
------------------------------------
November 10, 2014
US secretary of state John Kerry visits the Mattrah Souq in Muscat on November 10 during talks over Iran's nuclear programme.
No breakthrough in Iran nuclear talks in Oman
A second day of negotiations in Muscat between the US and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear programme ended on Monday without an imminent breakthrough ahead of a looming deadline for a deal.
Only two weeks remain before the November 24 expiration of an interim agreement that raised the prospect of long-term restraints on Iran’s nuclear programme and a broader rapprochement between Tehran and Washington.
The high-level talks between US secretary of state John Kerry, Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif and Catherine Ashton, the former EU official coordinating the negotiations, were intended to address the outstanding differences over limits that would block a quick path for Iran to making a bomb in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
The US and five world powers known as the P5+1 are still seeking “verifiable, lock-tight assurances that they can’t develop a nuclear weapon”, US president Barack Obama said in an interview with CBS News on Sunday. “There’s still a big gap. We may not be able to get there.”
The major unresolved gaps are how much of Iran’s enrichment capabilities are allowed to remain, the time frame for lifting economic sanctions on Tehran and the duration of time that a final agreement would remain in effect.
An accord would revive Iran’s staggering economy and deliver a major foreign policy victory to Mr Obama. But observers say that a deal can only be struck if either side is willing to make concessions that would have potentially significant negative political effects.
Some analysts say the most likely outcome now is an extension of the talks.
“A full-fledged agreement is no longer possible before the deadline. What is still achievable is a breakthrough that could justify adding more time to the clock,” said Ali Vaez, an Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group.
But an extension could also be the beginning of the end for a deal. The negotiations have been criticised by many in both parties in the US congress, which came close to passing new sanctions earlier this year that would likely have killed the talks.
The Senate’s senior Democrat was able to convince those from his party to hold off. But the new Republican-controlled congress that takes office in January will likely press ahead with sanctions if talks are extended or if a final accord is not considered a good deal.
New sanctions would most likely prompt Iran to leave the negotiating table and resume its enrichment of high-level uranium, which had been stopped by the interim agreement.
Mr Obama can unilaterally suspend most of the sanctions, but a final lifting must be approved by congress. Mr Obama can also veto a new sanctions law.
A compromise between the two branches of the US government could be “triggered sanctions” that would only come into effect if Iran failed to honour the terms of any deal.
The threat of new sanctions, as well as low oil prices, could add impetus for an agreement to be reached, some observers say. This could make it politically more difficult for the new Congress to be seen as scuttling the deal.
But Iran and the US have been far apart on the key components of even a framework deal. Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, is under pressure from hardline Iranian politicians for an immediate end to all sanctions.
Iran also reportedly only wants an accord to remain in place for five years, while the US and world powers are demanding it stays for at least a decade.
The largest sticking point is the size of Iran’s future uranium enrichment capabilities – which Tehran insists it only wants for medical and energy purposes, but that can also be used to build a bomb. Iran reportedly is insisting that it will need hundreds of thousands of enrichment centrifuges, in exchange for rigorous inspections of its nuclear sites.
But the P5+1 negotiators are reported to demand that Iran only maintain a few thousand, so that if Tehran decided to build a weapon it would not go undetected.
No breakthrough in Iran nuclear talks in Oman | The National
US secretary of state John Kerry, right, and Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif, left, shake hands as Omani minister responsible for foreign affairs Yussef bin Alawi, secod right, and former EU top diplomat Catherine Ashton look on during their meeting in Muscat on November 9, 2014.
US, Iran seek nuclear breakthrough amid domestic pressures
The United States and Iran began high-level talks in Oman on Sunday ahead of a looming deadline for a deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme.
US secretary of state John Kerry started a meeting with Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif to try to close substantial gaps before November 24, when an interim agreement is meant to be turned into a comprehensive long-term settlement.
The meeting follows the revelation that US president Barack Obama reportedly wrote to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to push for a deal, arguing the Islamic republic and the West have shared regional interests.
The apparent reference to the fight against ISIL militants in Syria and Iraq, however, was played down by Mr Kerry in Beijing on Saturday, with the US diplomat saying “there is no linkage whatsoever” with the nuclear talks.
Despite the approaching deadline, Iran and the P5+1 group – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany – are far apart on what capabilities Iran’s nuclear programme should have.
The West has as yet been unconvinced by Iran’s denials that it has never sought a nuclear weapon, while Tehran insists its atomic activities are for peaceful, civilian energy purposes only.
A deal, for the West, aims to put a bomb forever beyond Iran’s reach.
Mr Kerry and Mr Zarif began their talks at 11:30am, with former EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also present.
At issue is the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges Iran should be allowed to keep spinning in exchange for sanctions relief and rigorous inspections at its nuclear sites.
Iran wants “industrial-grade enrichment” beyond its current capabilities while the world powers want a reduction.
However, domestic politics were hanging heavily over the talks, given the loss in midterm elections of the senate by Mr Obama’s Democrats to the Republican party, members of whom have consistently bridled at the White House’s negotiations with Iran.
If talks go sour in the coming weeks it is thought the US congress may respond with fresh sanctions on Iran.
Mr Obama has the power to veto them, but the prospect of new penalties could disrupt an already protracted process.
Mr Zarif is also under pressure, with members of parliament criticising the talks and threatening to scupper a deal if legislators themselves do not have a say in ratifying it.
Although officially supportive, hardliners in Tehran have often been ambivalent about the negotiations, which officially resumed last autumn after earlier secret talks with Washington in Oman set the wheels in motion.
On the plane to Muscat on Saturday, Mr Zarif told reporters that Iran and the P5+1 have concentrated on “solutions rather than differences” since talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September.
“There is still a gap between the two parties on the size of the enrichment programme and the mechanism for lifting sanctions,” the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
“If the other party acts with good political will, we can reach an agreement.”
The surprise election last year of president Hassan Rouhani, who had pledged to revive Iran’s sanctions-battered economy, was a turning point on the nuclear issue but progress has been elusive since an interim deal came into effect in January.
After Sunday’s meeting between Mr Kerry and Mr Zarif, the political directors of the P5+1 powers will hold talks in Muscat on Tuesday. Mr Ashton, who will see out the nuclear negotiations until November 24, will also chair that meeting.
The talks move back to Vienna on November 18 for a final push towards the deadline six days later.
A comprehensive agreement would represent a hard-earned foreign policy win for Mr Obama in a region where the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran has hung for more than a decade.
Iran would stand to benefit economically, both from sanctions relief and from incoming foreign businesses whose operations in the Islamic republic are currently hobbled by banking restrictions imposed on Tehran as punishment for its nuclear activities.
US, Iran seek nuclear breakthrough amid domestic pressures | The National
------------------------------------
November 10, 2014
US secretary of state John Kerry visits the Mattrah Souq in Muscat on November 10 during talks over Iran's nuclear programme.
No breakthrough in Iran nuclear talks in Oman
A second day of negotiations in Muscat between the US and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear programme ended on Monday without an imminent breakthrough ahead of a looming deadline for a deal.
Only two weeks remain before the November 24 expiration of an interim agreement that raised the prospect of long-term restraints on Iran’s nuclear programme and a broader rapprochement between Tehran and Washington.
The high-level talks between US secretary of state John Kerry, Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif and Catherine Ashton, the former EU official coordinating the negotiations, were intended to address the outstanding differences over limits that would block a quick path for Iran to making a bomb in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
The US and five world powers known as the P5+1 are still seeking “verifiable, lock-tight assurances that they can’t develop a nuclear weapon”, US president Barack Obama said in an interview with CBS News on Sunday. “There’s still a big gap. We may not be able to get there.”
The major unresolved gaps are how much of Iran’s enrichment capabilities are allowed to remain, the time frame for lifting economic sanctions on Tehran and the duration of time that a final agreement would remain in effect.
An accord would revive Iran’s staggering economy and deliver a major foreign policy victory to Mr Obama. But observers say that a deal can only be struck if either side is willing to make concessions that would have potentially significant negative political effects.
Some analysts say the most likely outcome now is an extension of the talks.
“A full-fledged agreement is no longer possible before the deadline. What is still achievable is a breakthrough that could justify adding more time to the clock,” said Ali Vaez, an Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group.
But an extension could also be the beginning of the end for a deal. The negotiations have been criticised by many in both parties in the US congress, which came close to passing new sanctions earlier this year that would likely have killed the talks.
The Senate’s senior Democrat was able to convince those from his party to hold off. But the new Republican-controlled congress that takes office in January will likely press ahead with sanctions if talks are extended or if a final accord is not considered a good deal.
New sanctions would most likely prompt Iran to leave the negotiating table and resume its enrichment of high-level uranium, which had been stopped by the interim agreement.
Mr Obama can unilaterally suspend most of the sanctions, but a final lifting must be approved by congress. Mr Obama can also veto a new sanctions law.
A compromise between the two branches of the US government could be “triggered sanctions” that would only come into effect if Iran failed to honour the terms of any deal.
The threat of new sanctions, as well as low oil prices, could add impetus for an agreement to be reached, some observers say. This could make it politically more difficult for the new Congress to be seen as scuttling the deal.
But Iran and the US have been far apart on the key components of even a framework deal. Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, is under pressure from hardline Iranian politicians for an immediate end to all sanctions.
Iran also reportedly only wants an accord to remain in place for five years, while the US and world powers are demanding it stays for at least a decade.
The largest sticking point is the size of Iran’s future uranium enrichment capabilities – which Tehran insists it only wants for medical and energy purposes, but that can also be used to build a bomb. Iran reportedly is insisting that it will need hundreds of thousands of enrichment centrifuges, in exchange for rigorous inspections of its nuclear sites.
But the P5+1 negotiators are reported to demand that Iran only maintain a few thousand, so that if Tehran decided to build a weapon it would not go undetected.
No breakthrough in Iran nuclear talks in Oman | The National
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