The US and five other world powers began high-stakes talks yesterday with Iran to demand a freeze of its nuclear activities, with a senior US official saying Washington was open to rare one-on-one talks with Iranian diplomats.
The EU’s Javier Solana, who is formally heading the one-day negotiations with chief Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili, was upbeat before the start of the talks in an 18th century villa in Geneva.
The US official briefed reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the talks.
A bilateral meeting with Iran would reflect Washington’s determination to get results from the meeting.
The fact that the meeting is taking place at all offers some hope, reflecting both sides’ desire to talk, despite a spike in tensions over last week’s revelations by Iran that it had been secretly building a new uranium enrichment plant.
But with the US and its allies contemplating new and tighter sanctions on Tehran, there are fears the negotiations may again end in failure.
In addition to the US and Iran, the countries meeting yesterday included members of the UN Security Council and Germany.
The US delegation is headed by William Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs.
The US State Department stressed its hope that the session would open the door to more in-depth dialogue about ways Iran could alleviate concerns that its emerging nuclear program may be secretly developing nuclear weapons.
If Iran is willing to address the nuclear issues, then there likely will be subsequent meetings, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in Washington.
“That process will take some time,” Crowley said. “We’re not going to make a snap judgment on Thursday. We’re going to see how that meeting goes, evaluate the willingness of Iran to engage on these issues.”
Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin asked what Moscow hoped from the talks, said: “To have a start that has a continuation.”
Chinese diplomats have also been urging Iran to negotiate with the six powers, UN diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Crowley noted that US President Barack Obama has said he intends to take a few months to assess Iran’s position and consult with negotiating partners before deciding what next steps to take.
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