‘Useful’ Iran talks to resume in May
Diplomats now hoping for ‘sustained’ dialogue on nuclear programs
ISTANBUL— At their first meeting after a year of sanctions and sabrerattling over Iran’s nuclear program, negotiators from Tehran and six world powers said “constructive” talks on Saturday meant they would sit down again together next month.
Adeal to reconvene in Baghdad on May 23 had been billed in advance by diplomats as a mark of a positive resumption. Both Western and Russian negotiators at the talks in Turkey spoke of a more engaged tone from Iran, whose chief negotiator said he wanted to talk next about lifting Western sanctions on Tehran.
Washington made clear such a demand was premature, however. A senior U.S. official in Istanbul spoke of an “urgency . . . for concrete progress” because the “window” for diplomacy was closing.
Over the past year, Israeli and U.S. warnings of military strikes if Iran does not stop working on some aspects of nuclear technology have stoked fears of war — and raised oil prices — in an unsettled Middle East. A resumption of the kind of dialogue spoken of by both sides could help dampen anxieties.
“We expect that subsequent meetings will lead to concrete steps toward a comprehensive negotiated solution which restores international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program,” said Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief who leads negotiations for the six powers. The group comprises the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — Russia, the United States, China, France and Britain — along with Germany. It is known as the P5+1. Calling Saturday’s talks “construc- tive and useful,” Ashton said, “We want now to move to a sustained process of dialogue.” The May 23 meeting in Baghdad, rarely a friendly venue for Iranians in the Arab world, would be part of a “step-by-step” approach, Ashton said, and junior officials would meet again before then. Chief Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili, however, made clear that Iran had no intention of stopping its plants that enrich uranium to contain 20 per cent of fissile material — much higher than the quality needed to generate electricity. Tehran says it is for medical and other uses. Nonetheless, however remote a final accord may be between the Islamic republic and its adversaries, a return to the negotiating table may calm nerves after 15 angry months. In that time, the West has imposed crippling, new economic sanctions while Iran, watching its key region- al ally Syria collapse into internal strife, has threatened to blockade oil tankers. And Israel, fearful a nuclear Iran would jeopardize its very survival, has planned for possible “pre-emptive” strikes. One diplomat from the six said Iran’s willingness to at least discuss its program marked a shift from the stalemate which marked meetings last year.
“We witnessed progress. There were differences of opinion,” Jalili said. “But the points we agreed on were important.”
Referring to Iran’s rights under the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) on nuclear weapons, Jalili told a news conference: “Enrichment of uranium is one of these rights that every individual member state should benefit from and enjoy for peaceful purposes.”
Western governments argue Iran has broken the NPT with secret research on nuclear weapons.