World Powers Agree to Resume Nuclear Talks With Iran

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Efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the disputed Iranian nuclear program appeared to receive some momentum on Tuesday when the group of six global powers that suspended talks with Iran in frustration more than a year ago formally agreed to accept Iran’s offer to resume discussions.

The official agreement came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, which regards Iran as its most dangerous enemy, was in the midst of a two-day visit to the United States to press his view that diplomatic and economic pressures on Iran to persuade it not to develop a nuclear weapon were not working. President Obama, who has said a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable, urged Mr. Netanyahu to give diplomacy and sanctions more time.

The agreement on the talks was made known in a statement from the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, acting on behalf of the six powers — the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain — and Germany.

Talks about resuming the negotiations have been going on for weeks and Iran’s nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, suggested new discussions in a letter in February as Western powers ratcheted up economic sanctions on Iran’s oil industry and banks. The previous talks broke off in January 2011 in Istanbul.

In a response on Tuesday to Mr. Jalili’s proposal, Ms. Ashton said the European Union hopes that Iran “will now enter into a sustained process of constructive dialogue which will deliver real progress in resolving the international community’s longstanding concerns on its nuclear program.” The timing and location of the talks have not been announced.

“Today I have replied to Dr. Jalili’s letter of February 14,” Ms. Ashton said. “I have offered to resume talks with Iran on the nuclear issue.” Her letter proposed initial talks to build confidence by setting out an agenda on substantive steps.

“Our overall goal remains a comprehensive negotiated, long-term solution which restores international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, while respecting Iran’s right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” the letter said.

Western leaders maintain that the program is designed to give Tehran a nuclear weapons capability. Iran says the program is for peaceful purposes.

In a separate statement, the British Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “We all agree that the international community should demonstrate its commitment to a diplomatic solution by acknowledging Iran’s agreement to meet, by testing its desire to talk and by offering it the opportunity to respond to our legitimate concerns about its nuclear intentions.”

“It is time for Iran to choose a different path and to show the world that it wants a peaceful, negotiated solution to the nuclear issue. It is for Iran to seize this opportunity and we urge it to do so,” Mr. Hague said. “The onus will be on Iran to convince the international community that its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful, by taking concrete actions.”

The prospect of new talks emerged against a background of mounting tensions, with Iran facing a European oil embargo in July and other sanctions that have deepened its economic gloom. At the same time, Israel signaled increasing readiness to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities to set back the enrichment program, while the United States wants more time for economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure to press Tehran toward a settlement.

At a meeting in the White House on Monday, President Obama urged Mr. Netanyahu to give diplomacy and sanctions a chance to work before resorting to military action. But Mr. Netanyahu said later: “We waited for diplomacy to work; we’ve waited for sanctions to work; none of us can afford to wait much longer.”

There were conflicting reports on Tuesday about Iran’s readiness to permit inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear supervisory body, to visit a secret military complex to which they have been denied access. An Iranian news agency, ISNA, said that Iran had reversed its refusal to permit I.A.E.A. inspectors to visit the complex at Parchin, southeast of Tehran.

But a news release from Iran’s representatives at the I.A.E.A. headquarters in Vienna suggested that the offer was conditional, preliminary and limited to only two of the five areas that the agency’s experts wished to investigate. It also accused the agency of ignoring an agreement to postpone its request to visit the secret site at Parchin until after a meeting this week of the agency’s board of governors.

The ISNA report was apparently based on the same news release , which the Iranian mission at the I.A.E.A. said it had issued on Monday.

The I.A.E.A. believes that secret military work may have been carried out at Parchin and has been pressing for access. Last month, a senior delegation from the atomic agency held its second round of talks in a month with Iranian officials in Tehran.

“During both the first and second round of discussions, the agency team requested access to the military site at Parchin. Iran did not grant permission for this visit to take place,” the I.A.E.A. said at the time.

“Intensive efforts were made to reach agreement on a document facilitating the clarification of unresolved issues in connection with Iran’s nuclear program, particularly those relating to possible military dimensions. Unfortunately, agreement was not reached on this document,” its statement said.

But in the news release on Monday offering their own version of the talks in February, the Iranian mission at the I.A.E.A. said Tehran had repeated its readiness to “take practical steps including granting access on two issues” — detonator development and high explosive initiation — but the I.A.E.A. team “did not accept the offer” and returned to Vienna on the instructions of the agency’s director general Yukiya Amano.

Access to the Parchin site may test whether Iran will ever allow the kind of intrusive inspections that most Western officials say are necessary to establish whether Iran has conducted research on nuclear weapons. The last report by the I.A.E.A. in November said Iran had gone beyond theoretical studies about how to detonate a nuclear device, building a large containment vessel at Parchin for testing the feasibility of explosive compression. It called such tests “strong indicators of possible weapon development.”

I.A.E.A. officials offered no immediate response to the Iranian version.

But a Western diplomat familiar with the issue, who spoke in return for anonymity, insisted that Iranian officials had refused to permit the I.A.E.A. team to visit Parchin during the February visit and had instead offered to show the agency’s experts a different site which was not part of their mission.

The conflicting versions of what had transpired seemed to be part of Iran’s negotiating position and an effort by Tehran “not to be seen as unhelpful,” the diplomat said. But, the diplomat said, the agency wanted to pursue the negotiations to gain access to the Parchin site.

At a news conference in Vienna on Monday, Mr. Amano, the agency’s director general, said: “Iran did not provide access to the Parchin site, as we requested.”

“Nevertheless, the Agency will continue to address the Iran nuclear issue through dialogue and in a constructive spirit. The basic objective is to restore international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear activities. “

The reported offer to permit access to the Parchin site was the second apparently conciliatory gesture by Tehran in as many days. On Monday, the Supreme Court of Iran overturned the death penalty conviction of a former United States Marine accused of spying and ordered a retrial in a separate court.

Iranian news reports quoted a state prosecutor as saying that shortcomings had been found in the case against the American, Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, and that a new trial would be held.

NYT

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29 responses to “World Powers Agree to Resume Nuclear Talks With Iran”

  1. Psalm 55:21
    The words of his mouth
    were smoother than butter, But war was in his
    heart; His words were softer than oil, Yet they were drawn
    swords.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Plumbline notes once again that the pen is mightier than the sword.

  2. Psalm 55:21
    The words of his mouth
    were smoother than butter, But war was in his
    heart; His words were softer than oil, Yet they were drawn
    swords.

  3. Plumbline Avatar
    Plumbline

    Psalm 55:21
    The words of his mouth
    were smoother than butter, But war was in his
    heart; His words were softer than oil, Yet they were drawn
    swords.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Plumbline notes once again that the pen is mightier than the sword.

  4. josephphdman Avatar
    josephphdman

    talks are ok , sanctions are good , but all  of this wo,nt stop iran from getting the nuclear bomb ,  its just buying time for iran  ,iran will keep talking , denying and lying to the world ,until they have  the nuclear weapons , this iranian regeme   are conducting terrorrim all over the world , kiling innocent women and children , how hard would it be for them to lie?????

    1. Nopressure Avatar
      Nopressure

      I am not here to defend or condone anyone, I am a person of logic and reason, I am skeptical about a lot of different things but your comment shows how naive you are in international affairs, you are making allegations and accusations without any substantive evidence to back it up.

      If you are trying to establish a link between their support to a certain group or country as a basis for terrorism, then many countries are guilty of that. So don’t pick and choose and get it straight.

    2. JessicaHabib Avatar
      JessicaHabib

       OMG he is delusional! Compare how many women and children have been killed by the U.S, Nato and Israel to Iran. It comes to about 5000 times more a year from the so called civilized world. Now compare the lies of 911 and Iraq to Iran and tell me who kills more again? Why would you trust any government? Governments killed more people based on lies than any disease or natural disaster. You must have a phd in right wing republican brown nosing.

      1. master09 Avatar
        master09

        Iran helps other countries like Syria kill women and children,they are not stupid. 

      2. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        5000 times … and every year? … hmmm … slight embellishment. Who’s blowing up Iraquis now?
        But I see you have become an anarchist … every government is useless it seems.
        For that, you need to blame the people who elect them.

    3. Patience2 Avatar
      Patience2

       You know, Joseph, What you say is basically correct.  How many times has Iran’s fuzzy-faces and others in their regime said ‘…death to Israel…’ and preached the destruction of Israel as one of their primary ambitions?  Only a ‘couple of Iranian flacks could ignore the very obvious.  Apparently, some people seem not to notice reported events over a long, long period of time.  Logic and reason would seem to say ‘squish the bug before it bites you’.

      1. master09 Avatar
        master09

        We should give the Sunni, shites and the rest five nukes each and see how long it will take them to blow each other up.
         People use this crap and say why is it OK for the JEWS TO HAVE ONE ..Well  Isreal does not say every day that we want to destroy every Arab country, but the Arabs do every day about Isreal and America. Iran openly say this, so if someone makes threats about your family what actions are you going to take.

         When those threats are made we should let them build 100, no f… that save them the trouble,,,, just give them 200…… SHIT give me one that dog next door I would like to fix up………

    4. Prophettttt Avatar
      Prophettttt

      MrPHDnot,
      Objectively speaking,What is wrong with Nuclear Iran? why would that be so bad?Who sets the rules as to who can have nuclear technology and who can’t,and what are the criteria for such laws?Give me logical answers, not  propaganda and angry answers. You and I have debated many times before,and I know you claim to have a PHD in Math, so you are supposed to think logical. Let’s here your Logic,and your equations. Please, keep it real,and respectful.

      1. josephphdman Avatar
        josephphdman

        dear prophet
        in a civilized  country when a person commit a crime or a terrossit act , that person is arrested and goes to prison, and if he ever comes out of prison the law forbid him from owning a gun or any weaopns , because he or she becomes a threat to the society and may hurt the public if allowed to own a weapon  , now it works the same  formula for a country  iran had committed too many terrossist acts and crimes , and now the judge is the united nations and the international court   which are formed by majority of countries world wide , they decided on a fate of a country when that country had done wrong , in this case iran has committed many crimes and murders and terrorrism against the world community , that is the reason iran is not entitled to carry nuclear arms , becauseof there irresponsible behavior , and could do harm to the world  if  they have such weapons . that is why the un has voted against iran  in that regard.

        1. Prophettttt Avatar
          Prophettttt

          Joseph,Thank you for taking the time to reply.
          your theory works in an ideal world, where the International community, represented by the UN  behaves and respects itself,and abides by  fair and humane laws. The UN has no track record of being fair and objective, In fact  it is an organization well controlled by the big powers of the world. It has a history of acting with double standards. the UN organization has been manipulated by certain powerful countries in order to suit their own interests. 
          Show me a UN resolution  implemented by Israel.Show a case where the united states didn’t veto a resolution condemning Israel for its crimes and abuse against palestinians.. Show me a case where the UN was allowed to force Israel to do anything.Israel,along with many other countries have committed  many crimes and atrocities, yet I don’t seen any actions to condemn them, let alone inspecting their nuclear facilities.Has the UN called on Nuclear free Israel? Has the UN had the nerves to inspect Israel’s nuclear facilities? Unless you believe that Israel is a responsible country ;`which never commits a crime or a terrorist act, then there is nothing else to discuss.

          The UN needs to prove that it  is what you think it is.whether one agrees with Iran or not, the rules should apply to all.
           As much as I oppose Iran’s form of government, I don’t see the terrorist actions,and crimes you are talking about,and if they were true, why pick and choose who the UN should punish, or forbid from acquiring nuclear power.
          The united states waged a war(not to mention all wars) on Iraq which cost over a million Iraqi casualties, and you don’t think that was a crime. France, killed over million Algerians, and you don’t consider that irresponsible. Russia, killed thousands of Chechnyan, yet No one intervened.
          your analogy is not valid, your reasoning is not valid, and your parallel are not s straight.
          If I were you, I would call for a nuclear free middle east, and for a nuclear free wold, instead of giving power to some countries to choose who else can have power.

  5. josephphdman Avatar
    josephphdman

    talks are ok , sanctions are good , but all  of this wo,nt stop iran from getting the nuclear bomb ,  its just buying time for iran  ,iran will keep talking , denying and lying to the world ,until they have  the nuclear, this iranian regeme   are coducting terrorrim all over the world , kiling innocent women and children , how hard would it be for them to lie?????

    1. Nopressure Avatar
      Nopressure

      I am not here to defend or condone anyone, I am a person of logic and reason, I am skeptical about a lot of different things but your comment shows how naive you are in international affairs, you are making allegations and accusations without any substantive evidence to back it up.

      If you are trying to establish a link between their support to a certain group or country as a basis for terrorism, then many countries are guilty of that. So don’t pick and choose and get it straight.

    2. JessicaHabib Avatar
      JessicaHabib

       OMG he is delusional! Compare how many women and children have been killed by the U.S, Nato and Israel to Iran. It comes to about 5000 times more a year from the so called civilized world. Now compare the lies of 911 and Iraq to Iran and tell me who kills more again? Why would you trust any government? Governments killed more people based on lies than any disease or natural disaster. You must have a phd in right wing republican brown nosing.

      1. master09 Avatar
        master09

        Iran helps other countries like Syria kill women and children,they are not stupid. 

      2. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        5000 times … and every year? … hmmm … slight embellishment. Who’s blowing up Iraquis now?
        But I see you have become an anarchist … every government is useless it seems.
        For that, you need to blame the people who elect them.

    3. Patience2 Avatar
      Patience2

       You know, Joseph, What you say is basically correct.  How many times has Iran’s fuzzy-faces and others in their regime said ‘…death to Israel…’ and preached the destruction of Israel as one of their primary ambitions?  Only a ‘couple of Iranian flacks could ignore the very obvious.  Apparently, some people seem not to notice reported events over a long, long period of time.  Logic and reason would seem to say ‘squish the bug before it bites you’.

      1. master09 Avatar
        master09

        We should give the Sunni, shites and the rest five nukes each and see how long it will take them to blow each other up.
         People use this crap and say why is it OK for the JEWS TO HAVE ONE ..Well  Isreal does not say every day that we want to destroy every Arab country, but the Arabs do every day about Isreal and America.

         When those threats are made we should let them build 100, no f… that save them the trouble,,,, just give them 200…… SHIT give me one that dog next door I would like to fix up………

    4. Prophettttt Avatar
      Prophettttt

      MrPHDnot,
      Objectively speaking,What is wrong with Nuclear Iran? why would that be so bad?Who sets the rules as to who can have nuclear technology and who can’t,and what are the criteria for such laws?Give me logical answers, not  propaganda and angry answers. You and I have debated many times before,and I know you claim to have a PHD in Math, so you are supposed to think logical. Let’s here your Logic,and your equations. Please, keep it real,and respectful.

      1. josephphdman Avatar
        josephphdman

        dear prophet
        in a civilized  country when a person commit a crime or a terrossit act , that person is arrested and goes to prison, and if he ever comes out of prison the law forbid him from owning a gun or any weaopns , because he or she becomes a threat to the society and may hurt the public if allowed to own a weapon  , now it works the same  formula for a country  iran had committed too many terrossist acts and crimes , and now the judge is the united nations and the international court   which are formed by majority of countries world wide , they decided on a fate of a country when that country had done wrong , in this case iran has committed many crimes and murders and terrorrism against the world community , that is the reason iran is not entitled to carry nuclear arms , becauseof there irresponsible behavior , and could do harm to the world  if  they have such weapons . that is why the un has voted against iran  in that regard.

        1. Prophettttt Avatar
          Prophettttt

          Joseph,Thank you for taking the time to reply.
          your theory works in an ideal world, where the International community, represented by the UN  behaves and respects itself,and abides by  fair and human laws. The UN has no track record of being fair and objective, In fact  it is an organization well controlled the big powers of the world. It has a history of acting with double standards. the UN organization has been manipulated by certain powerful countries in order to suit their own interests. 
          Show me a UN resolution  implemented by Israel.Show a case where the united states didn’t veto a resolution condemning Israel for its crimes and abuse against Palestinians.Israel,along with many other countries have committed  many crimes and atrocities, yet I don’t seen any actions to condemn them, let alone inspecting their nuclear facilities.Has the UN called on Nuclear free Israel? Has the UN had the nerves to inspect Israel’s nuclear facilities? Unless you believe that Israel is a responsible country ;`which never commits a crime or a terrorist act, then there is nothing else to discuss.

          The UN needs to prove that it  is what you think it is.whether one agrees with Iran or not, the rules should apply to all.
           As much as I oppose Iran’s form of government, I don’t see the terrorist action you are talking about,and if they were true, why pick and choose who the UN should punish, or forbid from acquiring nuclear power.
          The united states waged a war(not to mention all wars) on Iraq which cost over a million Iraqi casualties, and you don’t think that was a crime. France, killed over million Algerians, and you don’t consider that irresponsible. Russia, killed thousands of Chechnyan, yet No one intervened.
          your analogy is not valid, your reasoning is not valid, and your parallel are not s straight.
          If I were you, I would call for a nuclear free middle east, and for a nuclear free wold, instead of giving power to some countries to choose who else can have power. 

  6. Nopressure Avatar
    Nopressure

    The world appears to be composed of four clubs and are as follows:

    Let’s say club “A” being the so called powerful countries which represent those who “can have and do”. This club has  appointed itself as “GOD”  and guardian of this world and why because they can. It created international institutions to advance their policies and projects, such institutions are the likes of the UNSC, IAEA, ICC, NATO, SWIFT Bank, IMF, G20 and so on..Those institutions provide this club with the political cover and legitimecy to punish whoever opposes them. This club is aggressive and on the offensive to further its goals and projects. Its power extends into soverign countries borders.It uses freedom, democracy and human rights as a weapon against opponents. Their philosophy is built around “there is one way and it is our way, there is one truth and it is our truth”. It sends unmistakable messages to intimidate opponents and to let them know that they are the only game in town and whoever opposes us is guranteed to be doomed.

    Club “B” being the friends and allies of club “A”, those folks have no say in the decision making and act as a conduit to facilitate the designs at hand. They can be described as weak, timid and want to belong with  someone in order to survive. This club is rewarded with immunity from any harm for their support and services.

    Club “C” are the silent majority and chose to saty mostly neutral and park on the sidelines.

    Club “D” are the few who are opposed to club “A” and those who “cann’t have or do”. Their actions and stands are always discredited and demonized and certainly viewed by club “A” as untenable, radical and attacked vigorously by all means. They are considered a threat and danger to the world because their only guilt is challanging the absolute power of club “A”.         

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      In this, with no pressure, you have described Syria … one microcosm of your world theory.

  7. Nopressure Avatar
    Nopressure

    The world appears to be composed of four clubs and are as follows:

    Let’s say club “A” being the so called powerful countries which represent those who “can have and do”. This club has  appointed itself as “GOD”  and guardian of this world and why because they can. It created international institutions to advance their policies and projects, such institutions are the likes of the UNSC, IAEA, ICC, NATO, SWIFT Bank, IMF, G20 and so on..Those institutions provide this club with the political cover and legitimecy to punish whoever opposes them. This club is aggressive and on the offensive to further its goals and projects. Its power extends into soverign countries borders.It uses freedom, democracy and human rights as a weapon against opponents. Their philosophy is built around “there is one way and it is our way, there is one truth and it is our truth”. It sends unmistakable messages to intimidate opponents and to let them know that they are the only game in town and whoever opposes us is guranteed to be doomed.

    Club “B” being the friends and allies of club “A”, those folks have no say in the decision making and act as a conduit to facilitate the designs at hand. They can be described as weak, timid and want to belong with  someone in order to survive. This club is rewarded with immunity from any harm for their support and services.

    Club “C” are the silent majority and chose to saty mostly neutral and park on the sidelines.

    Club “D” are the few who are opposed to club “A” and those who “cann’t have or do”. Their actions and stands are always discredited and demonized and certainly viewed by club “A” as untenable, radical and attacked vigorously by all means. They are considered a threat and danger to the world because their only guilt is challanging the absolute power of club “A”.         

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      In this, with no pressure, you have described Syria … one microcosm of your world theory.

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