TALKS AIMED at resolving Iran’s nuclear ambitions and ultimately preventing a military strike have resumed in Moscow, amid low expectations.
The talks, which conclude today, bring together six world powers and Iran to discuss the Islamic Republic’s disputed nuclear programme.
The so-called P5+1, comprising the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, are calling on Iran to stop enriching uranium to nuclear weapon standards and close the Fordo plant in the north of the country.
Iran continues to insist that its nuclear programme is peaceful and is pressing for an end to increasingly tough economic sanctions that are crippling its oil-dependent economy.
As the first day of talks ended without a breakthrough, an unnamed Iranian diplomat told Ria Novosti news agency the atmosphere was “not very positive”.
“These negotiations are a big test to see if the west is in favour of Iran’s progress or against,” Iran’s chief negotiator, Saeed Jalili, told Iranian state TV, news agencies reported.
Although talks between Iran and the great powers have sputtered on and off for a decade, this is the third encounter this year, in a round billed as the best chance to prevent a military strike against Iran. Israeli leaders have spoken of an existential threat from Iran, raising the prospect of an attack by Israel.
The stand-off over Iran’s nuclear programme is now entering a critical phase, after inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency reported in May traces of enriched uranium at higher levels than previously found at the Fordo plant.
On July 1st a European Union oil embargo comes fully into force, tightening the economic noose around Iran. The bloc has no plans to postpone the embargo, a spokesman for Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief who serves as lead negotiator for the six powers, said yesterday.
The run-up to the talks had been fraught, with Iran accusing the European Union of failing to prepare. EU diplomats countered that their Iranian counterparts needed to focus on substance, not protocol. “We hope they will engage, there is no point in having talks for talks’ sake,” the EU spokesman said.
Any collapse of the talks would be a diplomatic failure for Russia, the host and country with the closest ties to Iran among the six powers. Russia, which built Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, has been the staunchest defender of Iran’s right to a civilian nuclear programme.