Breakthrough elusive at Iran talks
geneva — Iran’s refusal to suspend work on a plutonium-producing reactor and downgrade its stockpile of higher-enriched uranium was standing in the way of an interim agreement to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme in return for easing of sanctions, France’s foreign minister said on Saturday. A Western diplomat in Geneva for the talks said the French were holding out for conditions on the Iranians tougher than those agreed to by the US and France’s other negotiating partners, raising doubts a final deal could be struck on Saturday.
The French position was confirmed by another Western diplomat.
Iran’s foreign minister said if world powers and Iran fail to reach a hoped-for deal on Saturday, a new round of talks will be held in seven or 10 days.
“If we do not reach an agreement tonight, the talks will be resumed in the next seven or 10 days,” Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency Irna.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius’ remarks to FranceInter radio were the first to provide some specifics on the obstacles at the Geneva talks, now in their third day. He spoke by telephone from Geneva, where he, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and counterparts from Britain, and Germany negotiating with Iran consulted on how to resolve the obstacles at the talks. —
tehran — THE IrAnIAn PrEss wAs DIvIDED on SAturDAy ovEr tHE prospECt oF A lAnDmArk nuClEAr DEAl wItH worlD powErs, wItH rEFormIst nEwspApErs CAutIously optImIstIC But HArDlInE tItlEs wAry oF A trAp.
NEwspApErs oF All pErsuAsIons unDErlInED tHE lImItED rElIEF From CrIpplInG WEstErn EConomIC sAnCtIons tHAt TEHrAn wAs lIkEly to sECurE In Any AGrEEmEnt struCk In GEnEvA.
But wHErE rEFormIst CommEntAtors tAlkED up tHE “HIstorIC” nAturE oF Any DEAl InvolvInG tHE UnItED StAtEs AFtEr morE tHAn tHrEE DE- CADEs oF HostIlIty, ConsErvAtIvE nEwspApErs wArnED IrAn’s nEGotIAtors AGAInst BEInG stronG-ArmED Into ACCEptInG A tokEn EAsInG oF WEstErn sAnCtIons In rEturn For A DEAl.
“Is It nEGotIAtIon or BlACkmAIl By WAsHInGton?” AskED tHE lEADInG HArDlInE DAIly unDEr tHE Front-pAGE HEADlInE “GEnEvA AGrEEmEnt mIrAGE”.
“THE UnItED StAtEs DoEsn’t wAnt to touCH tHE ArCHItECturE oF Its sAnCtIons mErEly to lIFt Its FrEEzE on somE IrAnIAn AssEts AnD prEsEnt tHAt As An EAsInG oF sAnCtIons,” tHE pApEr wArnED In Its EDItorIAl. “THE IrAnIAn nEGotIAtInG tEAm sHoulD AIm For DECIsIvE ACtIon to lIFt tHE sAnCtIons.” For FEllow HArDlInE nEwspApEr
All tHAt wAs on offEr to IrAn’s nEGotIAtors In GEnEvA wAs “SwIss CHoColAtEs” — Its Front-pAGE HEADlInE.
THE lEADInG rEFormIst DAIly SHArGH By ContrAst CArrIED A FrontpAGE pHotoGrApH oF ForEIGn MInIstEr MoHAmmAD JAvAD ZArIF stAnDInG AlonGsIDE EU ForEIGn AffAIrs CHIEF CAtHErInE AsHton, All smIlEs, unDEr tHE HEADlInE: “On tHE vErGE oF A HIstorIC DEAl.” “It sEEms A HIstorIC EvEnt Is In tHE offinG BEtwEEn IrAn AnD tHE P5+1, or morE prECIsEly BEtwEEn IrAn AnD tHE WEst,” wrotE onE Its CommEntAtors, SADEGH ZIBAkAlAm.
“GEnEvA Is A HIstorIC EvEnt BECAusE IrAn AnD tHE WEst HAvE AGrEED to look EACH otHEr In tHE EyE AFtEr 35 yEArs oF mutuAl DIstrust AnD rECrImInAtIons.”
OtHEr rEFormIst tItlEs plAyED up tHE “sHoCk” proGrEss In tHE tAlks, AnD tHE “unExpECtED” mEEtInG BEtwEEn ZArIF AnD US SECrEtAry oF StAtE JoHn KErry. —