Iranian and European negotiators met in secrecy here on Friday to seek agreement over Iran's nuclear program, and Iranian leaders increased pressure for a quick deal to permit them to resume enriching uranium for nuclear fuel.
Despite the tough talk from figures in Tehran, including former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, officials from both sides said the talks on Friday night were unlikely to reach any kind of breakthrough.
Negotiations
The US and Europe have pushed Iran to renounce all uranium enrichment as a guarantee against a clandestine program to make weapons-grade uranium.
Under international pressure, Iran has suspended its uranium enrichment program and has been negotiating with Britain, France and Germany over the future of the program. Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is exclusively for electric power generation.
Sanctions possible
The US has warned that if Iran ends the talks and resumes enrichment, Washington will seek action from the UN Security Council, possibly leading to economic sanctions.
The Europeans have taken a less confrontational tack, seeking to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear program in return for economic concessions.
On the Iranian side, however, the issue has been wrapped up in the country's looming presidential elections on June 17, and European diplomats say they fear that recent Iranian statements may reflect political posturing.
US opposition
Iran is seeking European assent to a small experimental enrichment program, but both the Europeans and the US oppose the idea.
In Tehran on Friday, Rafsanjani said Iran was "determined to have all branches of nuclear technology, including uranium enrichment, and we will have it at any cost," according to reports.
Rafsanjani's words echoed remarks on Thursday by Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, who said, "If talks with European Union are not successful tomorrow, negotiations will collapse, and we will have no choice but to restart the uranium enrichment program."
Low expectations
But the senior officials from both sides who are conducting the talks seemed anxious to play down any high expectations from the London encounter.
The head of the Iranian negotiators, Muhammad Javad Zarif, citing remarks by other Iranian officials, said: "We engage in these talks in order to make a deal, and not to break one. We are hoping for tangible progress on reaching an agreement."
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and