No breakthrough in Iran nuclear talks,

sides agree to keep talking

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani stands at the end of a press conference on the
sidelines of the 69th United Nations General Assebl! at United Nations
Head"uarters in Ne# $ork %epteber &6, &'()*
BY LOUIS CHARBONNEAU AND PARISA HAFEZI-Sat Sep 27, 2014
+Reuters, - Iran and si. #orld po#ers ade little progress
in o/ercoing significant disagreeents in the ost recent round of nuclear talks,
including on uraniu enrichent, Iranian and 0estern diploats close to the
negotiations said on 1rida!*
2fficials fro Iran and the si. countries had cautioned ahead of the talks in Ne# $ork
that a breakthrough #as unlikel! to end sanctions on 3ehran, although the! had hoped
substantial progress could be ade in narro#ing disagreeents*
A senior %tate 4epartent official said gaps 5are still serious5 #ith 6ust eight #eeks to
go before a No/* &) deadline*
50e do not ha/e an understanding on all a6or issues, #e ha/e soe understandings
that are helpful to o/e this process for#ard and #e ha/e an enorous nuber of
details still to #ork through,5 the official told reporters*
50e still ha/e soe /er!, /er! difficult understandings !et to reach, and e/er!one has
to ake difficult decisions and #e continue to look to Iran to ake soe of the ones
necessar! for getting to a coprehensi/e agreeent,5 said the official, speaking on
condition of anon!it!*
Another diploat said Iran and the United %tates, 7ritain, 1rance, Geran!, Russia
and 8hina #ould likel! eet again in the coing #eeks, but no date and /enue ha/e
been set*
Iran President Hassan Rouhani said at a ne#s conference on in Ne# $ork that the
5progress #e ha/e #itnessed in recent da!s has been e.treel! slo#*5
50e ust look for#ard to the future and ake the courageous decisions /is-a-/is this
proble,5 he said, adding that an! deal #ithout lifting all sanctions against 3ehran #as
5unacceptable*5
U*%* %ecretar! of %tate 9ohn :err! told reporters that an interi deal appro/ed in
Gene/a last No/eber under #hich Iran had halted higher-le/el enrichent in
e.change for liited sanctions relief 5has ade the #orld safer*5
2n a long-ter deal, :err! said 5it reains our fer/ent hope that Iran5 and the si.
po#ers 5can in the ne.t #eeks coe to an agreeent that #ould benefit the #orld*5
Iran and the si. hope that a resolution of the ore-than-decade-long nuclear standoff
#ith Iran #ill reduce regional tensions and reo/e the risk of another #ar in the
;iddle <ast*
At the General Assebl! earlier in the #eek, Rouhani said a deal that ends sanctions
#ill open the door to deeper cooperation on regional peace and stabilit! and the fight
against ilitants such as Islaic %tate, a group that has sei=ed parts of Ira" and %!ria*
3he United %tates has ade clear it #ill not link the t#o issues*
Israel has repeatedl! threatened to use ilitar! force against Iranian atoic sites if
diploac! fails to defuse #hat it sees as the threat of a nuclear-ared Iran*
Iran re6ects allegations fro 0estern po#ers and their allies that it is seeking a nuclear
#eapons capabilit! but has refused to halt uraniu enrichent, in/iting ultiple
rounds of U*%*, <uropean Union and U*N* %ecurit! 8ouncil sanctions* <nrichent is a
process of purif!ing uraniu for use as fuel for po#er plants or, if enriched to a /er!
high purit!, for bobs*
;I%3RU%3
%enior foreign inistr! officials fro the si. countries and Iran began eeting in Ne#
$ork last #eek* 4espite a generall! positi/e atosphere in the negotiations, the
0estern diploat said neither side has uch confidence in the other*
53he le/el of istrust is still prett! high,5 the 0estern diploat said*
1rench 1oreign ;inister >aurent 1abius told reporters there had been 5no significant
ad/ances5 in the latest talks, propting the parties to cancel a scheduled negotiating
session on 1rida!*
:err! and <uropean Union foreign polic! chief 8atherine Ashton et #ith Iranian
1oreign ;inister ;ohaad 9a/ad ?arif late on 3hursda! and again on 1rida! to
discuss ne.t steps in the deadlocked negotiations, the 0estern diploat said*
In addition to enrichent, diploats said the speed of lifting sanctions is a difficult
issue, one on #hich Iranian and 0estern delegations ha/e sharp differences*
3he 0estern diploat said the United %tates and <uropeans #ere prepared to lift their
unilateral sanctions /er! "uickl! in the e/ent of an acceptable agreeent, but U*N*
easures #ould be ended graduall! based on Iran's copliance #ith an! future deal*
50hat the! #ould like to see is to get rid of the %ecurit! 8ouncil sanctions /er! "uickl!,
iediatel!,5 he said* 57ut this is not e.actl! ho# #e think*5 He added, ho#e/er, that
Iran #as underestiating the speed at #hich the 0estern po#ers #ere prepared to
o/e on sanctions relief if an agreeent is reached*
3he diploat said Iran's President Rouhani, #ho held bilateral eetings #ith top
<uropean officials in Ne# $ork, had nothing to offer to o/e the talks for#ard*
53here #as nothing reall! ne# fro hi,5 the diploat said* 5He said #e should not
iss this historic opportunit! o/er a couple of centrifuges* And b! the #a!, #e think
the sae #a!*5
Iran's enrichent progra, abo/e all the nuber of enrichent centrifuges 3ehran
#ould be peritted to keep for the duration of an! deal, is one of the a6or sticking
points*
Rouhani, #idel! seen as a pragatist, #as elected last !ear on a platfor of ipro/ing
foreign relations* Rouhani and his go/ernent ha/e adopted a ore conciliator!
stance copared to his hard-line predecessor, ;ahoud Ahadine6ad, raising hopes
there ight be a/enues to reach an agreeent*
3he head of the U*%* delegation, Under %ecretar! of %tate for Political Affairs 0end!
%heran, said in an inter/ie# #ith @oice of Aerica that 5I belie/e #e are aking
progress*5 7ut she added that there are 5still soe /er! crucial decisions that need to
be ade*5
3he 0estern diploat echoed those rearks, sa!ingA 50e are e.pecting significant
o/es on the Iranian side5 if there is to be an agreeent o/er the ne.t t#o onths*
+Additional reporting b! Arshad ;ohaed and >esle! 0roughtonB <diting b! Grant
;c8ool and Nick ;acfie,
Posted b! 3ha/a