Iran nuclear talks begin, expectations low

ISTANBUL - Iran gave no sign of making concessions to world powers bent on coaxing it to curb its nuclear program at talks on Friday, saying it would not discuss suspending sensitive uranium enrichment.

Western leaders suspect Iran is working covertly to develop a nuclear weapon. Teheran says its atomic energy program is peaceful. The two days of talks in Istanbul are a follow-up to talks last month in Geneva, the first held in more than a year.

Impatient with what some analysts have called Iran's zigzag diplomacy, the powers are looking for a clear sign from Teheran that it is ready to engage in a way that helps engender trust, even if there is no substantive progress.

Iran's National Security Council issued a statement, quoted by Iranian television, saying the first session of talks on Friday was held in a "positive atmosphere". Iran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili is the council's secretary-general.

One of Jalili's aides in Istanbul drew a red line round its enrichment activities during the meeting. Uranium enriched to a low degree yields fuel for electricity or, if refined to a very high level, the fissile core of a nuclear bomb.

"We will not allow any talks linked to freezing or suspending Iran's enrichment activities to be discussed at the meeting in Istanbul," Abolfazl Zohrevand said.

"So far this issue has not been discussed, has not been raised or mentioned by the other party," Zohrevand said."Iran's nuclear rights cannot be discussed."

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton heads the delegations representing six big powers - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

"No one is expecting any big breakthrough, but Iran needs to show that it is interested in engaging in a wider process," said one diplomat as the opening session began.

Iran's nuclear standoff with the West has escalated in the past year, with the United Nations imposing new sanctions and Western states rejecting a revised proposal for Iran to swap some of its fuel abroad as too little, too late.

"It is very important that Iran takes those negotiations seriously, that it is prepared to discuss its nuclear program in detail," Britain's Foreign Minister William Hague said during a news conference in New Zealand.

"These negotiations are a test of Iran's willingness to enter into, and to keep to its international obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and under successive resolutions of the UN Security Council," Hague said.

Iran has ignored Security Council resolutions demanding it suspend enrichment, with trade and other benefits offered in return, and grant unfettered access for UN nuclear inspectors.

The prospect of an Iranian atom bomb fans fears of a broader Middle East conflict should the United States or Israel opt to attack it, a mooted last-ditch option should diplomacy fail.

The first session of two hours on Friday morning ended with the two sides looking for common ground.

An EU official said Ashton was to meet Jalili shortly to discuss how to advance the talks, with the aim of persuading him to agree to a series of bilateral meetings, especially with the United States, with whom Iran has had no relations for 30 years.

"The existing offer from 2008 to build trust is still on the table. Essentially we will reiterate that," the Western diplomat said. He was referring to a package of economic, political and other incentives offered to the Islamic Republic if it agrees to mothball enrichment-related activities.

That package, an enhanced version of one spurned by Iran in 2006, held out prospects for civil nuclear cooperation and trade in civil aircraft, agriculture, energy and high technology.

Reuters

(China Daily 01/22/2011 page8)