GENEVA (Reuters) – Iran and six world powers struggled on Friday, after two days of talks, to overcome stumbling blocks to an interim deal under which Tehran would curb its contested nuclear program in exchange for some relief from economic sanctions.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov planned to join the talks in Geneva, a source in Moscow’s delegation said. But there was no sign of ministers from the other five powers – the United States, China, France, Britain and Germany – following suit, something that could signal a deal was imminent.
The six foreign ministers joined intense talks on November 7-9 and came close to winning concessions from Iran they count on to reduce the risk of an Iranian nuclear weapon.
Optimism seems to have waned since then as the sides have since Wednesday bogged down in politically vexed details, hampered by stubborn mutual mistrust that has characterized a decade-old standoff with Iran over its nuclear intentions.
They said some progress had been made during the first two days and the number of disagreements reduced. But Iran’s insistence that the six powers explicitly acknowledge its right to enrich uranium – a process which can yield both electricity and nuclear bombs – was proving a formidable obstacle.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Tehran’s chief negotiator, said significant headway had been made.
“We are negotiating our differences and we have made considerable progress,” he said. “In some cases we have had results … but still we have three, four differences.”
These included the fate of Iran’s Arak heavy-water reactor project and the extent of sanctions relief, diplomats said.
Policymakers from the six major powers have said an interim accord on confidence-building steps could be within reach to start a cautious process of detente with Iran and douse the specter of a wider Middle East war.
Under discussion is an Iranian suspension of some sensitive nuclear activities, above all medium-level uranium enrichment, in exchange for sanctions relief. That could involve releasing some Iranian funds frozen in foreign bank accounts and allowing trade in precious metals, petrochemicals and aircraft parts.
The United States may also agree to relax pressure on other countries not to buy Iranian oil. Tehran has made clear it wants more significant gestures diluting the stifling superstructure of sanctions blocking its oil exports and use of the international banking and financial system.
The OPEC producer rejects suspicions it is covertly try to develop the means to produce nuclear weapons, saying it is stockpiling nuclear material for future atomic power plants.
Asked whether he believed there would be an agreement this week, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said: “I think it’s a possibility. It’s not final yet. I’m always optimistic. It depends on many factors.”
Western diplomats said there was still a chance that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry would return to Geneva along with his five counterparts in another attempt to clinch a deal.
IRAN SEES “EXCESSIVE DEMANDS”
But a senior European diplomat told reporters the ministers would make the trip only if there was an agreement to sign.
“We have made progress, including core issues,” the diplomat said, adding that “there are four or five things still on the table” that need to be resolved.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, one of Iran’s senior negotiators, urged the six powers to be flexible.
“We’re currently working on a text, the majority of provisions of which there is common understanding on, and this points to progress,” he was quoted as saying by Iran’s IRNA news agency. Differences persisted, however, he said.
“If the other side show flexibility, we can reach an agreement. If the (six-power group) is not flexible in its excessive demands, the negotiations will not progress.”
Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who is coordinating the talks on behalf of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany, met again on Friday morning to explore ways to narrow differences on the outstanding sticking points.
There was no immediate word on whether they succeeded in getting any closer to an accord- Ashton’s spokesman only described the meeting as “useful”. But one Iranian delegate said “this morning’s session was better than the one last night”. Ashton later briefed the six powers.
A senior Western diplomat said late on Thursday it would “not be a tragedy” if the third round of Geneva talks within a month adjourned without a deal and reconvened in a few weeks for another try.
RIGHT TO ENRICH?
Israel continued its public campaign of criticizing the offer of sanctions rollbacks for Iran, voicing its conviction that all it would achieve would be more time for Iran to master nuclear technology and amass potential bomb fuel.
“We think it’s not a useful agreement, perhaps even damaging,” Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin told Israel Radio. “Even those who support the agreement say the only goal of the agreement is to play for time.”
He appeared to be referring to France, which has taken a harder line than other Western powers and repeatedly urged the six-power group not to make too many compromises with Tehran.
The renewal of nuclear diplomacy with Iran became possible after the landslide election in June of Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, as president on promises of improving the economy and mending ties with the West.
For the powers, an interim deal would mandate a halt to Iran’s enrichment of uranium to a purity of 20 percent – a major technical step towards the bomb threshold, more sweeping U.N. nuclear inspections in Iran and a shutdown of the Arak reactor project, a potential source of bomb-grade plutonium.
The U.S. delegation at the talks has said no country has an inherent right to enrich uranium, referring to the Iranians’ key demand. But it also indicated that some kind of compromise on the issue could be devised.
U.S. ability to be flexible is limited, however, given the skepticism in U.S. Congress about cutting a deal with Tehran.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Thursday he was committed to pursuing a tougher Iran sanctions bill when the Senate returns from a recess early next month – even though President Barack Obama has warned that could derail diplomacy in Geneva.
If a preliminary agreement is reached for a six-month suspension of some of Iran’s most sensitive nuclear activity, the six powers and Tehran will use that time to hammer out a broader and longer-term accord.
(Additional reporting by Justyna Pawlak, Fredrik Dahl and John Irish in Geneva, Marcus George in Dubai, Steve Gutterman in Moscow and Allyn Fisher in Jerusalem- Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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