Iran nuclear talks enter crucial phase

Developing Just Leadership

Crescent International

Sha'ban 12, 1435 2014-06-10

Daily News Analysis

by Crescent International

Can the West led by the US bring itself around to accepting Iran's rights under the NPT? It will all depend on whether Washington has the ability to withstand zionist blackmail. If US President Barack Obama is serious about a deal with Iran, he can get one by sticking to principles rather than putting forward ludicrous demands.

Geneva, Crescent-online
Tuesday June 10, 2014, 23:09 DST

Two days of talks between Iran and the United States on Tehran’s nuclear energy program in Geneva that ended on Tuesday June 10 “went well” though “some differences” have yet to be resolved, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi said after the talks.

“We had good exchanges of views. We had good consultations. Of course, the differences and gaps still exist but before the next round of negotiations next week in Vienna… the atmosphere was good,” Araqchi said.

Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi assisted Araqchi during the talks. The American side was led by Deputy Secretary Nicholas Burns and accompanied by Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman and Vice President Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor Jacob Sullivan.

The fact that US President Barack Obama decided to send Burns to lead the talks indicates fear in the White House that Iran’s talks with the P5+1 group of countries—the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany—had hit a snag in the last round in Vienna that ended on May 16.

Both sides had said there were serious hurdles to overcome especially in view of Western countries introducing new and unreasonable demands. Iranian negotiators made clear that such demands would clearly derail the talks.

Before leaving for Geneva, Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi was quoted by Press TV as saying that the Geneva talks will bear results if they are based on “realities, not based on illusions and foreign pressure.”

Since the interim deal was signed last November, July 20 has become a theoretical deadline for finalizing the deal. Obama fears that if no deal is finalized, Congress may impose new sanctions on Iran thus scuttling the talks completely.

Iran has repeatedly made clear that any new sanctions would automatically end the talks. This is something Obama cannot afford. He has staked his presidential legacy on striking a grand bargain with Iran a la Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to Beijing and opening up to China. The Zionist controlled Congress, however, has other plans and would like to unleash the war dogs against Iran as well as undermine Obama.

The talks have stalled on US and European demands that Iran reduce the number of centrifuges from its current 19,000 to some 4,000 to 6,000. Iran has categorically rejected this. In fact, it wants to increase the number of centrifuges to 100,000 including introducing the next generation it has produced itself to produce fuel for the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Similarly, Tehran will not accept any proposal to obtain enriched uranium from an external source. This is a route Iran had taken earlier with the eurodif scheme whereby it entered into partnership with France for the supply of enriched uranium only to be denied this right.

Nor is Iran prepared to forego its right under the NPT to enrich uranium on its own soil. While Tehran has allowed intrusive inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the West led by the US, keeps introducing additional demands.

These are some of the hurdles to be overcome in Vienna when the next round of Iran-P5+1 talks resume on June 16.

“We have to try more to make bridges between gaps,” Araqchi said after the conclusion of talks in Geneva, adding, “I think both sides now understand each other’s position more than before, but still we need more work to narrow these gaps.”

Iran is to hold bilateral talks with France on June 11 followed by similar talks with Russia. An additional round of talks will be held with Germany on June 15 when Hans Dieter Lucas, the German representative at the Iran-P5+1 talks, will travel to Tehran to attend a conference organized by Iran’s Foreign Ministry.

The flurry of talks suggests that all sides are anxious not to allow this opportunity to slip from their hands. Whether the sides will agree on a deal will depend largely on how realistic the West is in dealing with this completely artificial crisis it has created.

There is absolutely no proof that Iran has done anything outside the framework of the NPT and its legal rights. Yet under zionist influence, the West has created an artificial crisis to exert pressure on Iran. This has failed completely.

Obama’s sending Burns to Geneva is an indication that he does not want these talks to fail. It was Burns that had led the secret talks with Iran in Oman prior to heading to Geneva for direct talks last year.

As the sides prepare to head to Vienna in a few days’ time, it will become clear whether the next round will be any different than the last one or Western governments will continue to live in their delusions that they can dictate to the Islamic Republic.

A deal based on the NPT principles will be a win-win for all sides. Anything short would mean the West is insincere and duplicitous in its dealings. Iran can manage without the West as it has done for more than three decades but can the West, especially the US?

END

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