By Laurence Norman
NEW YORK--The first full round of nuclear talks between Iran and
six world powers resumed Friday in New York after a two-month gap,
with Western officials saying the coming days are critical to
reaching a deal by the Nov. 24 deadline.
The talks are taking place to the backdrop of the annual United
Nations General Assembly meeting, meaning leaders and foreign
ministers from Iran and the six powers will be in town.
Western officials say they hope that will inject some needed
momentum into discussions and help them answer their biggest
question of whether Iran's negotiating team has political cover to
accept a major cut in Tehran's current nuclear-enrichment program
under a final deal.
"We are entering the crucial phase of the...negotiations with
Iran," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told
reporters Friday. "There is no more room for Iran to play for time.
We are willing to offer Iran a fair deal. However for that to
happen, Iran will need to move on the core issues."
The mood coming into this week's talks was anything but buoyant.
It has been 10 months since Iran and the six powers reached a
historic interim deal curbing the most advanced parts of Iran's
nuclear activities in exchange for modest sanctions relief.
The two sides missed a July 20 target date for a final deal and
bilateral summer talks between Iran and the U.S. made scant
progress, diplomats said. In recent weeks, Tehran and Washington
have scrapped over new U.S. sanctions on Tehran and over U.S.
efforts to build an international coalition against Sunni extremist
group Islamic State without Iran's direct participation.
Iran, which insists its nuclear program is for purely peaceful
civilian purposes, negotiates with the U.S., U.K., France, Germany,
China and Russia, the so-called P5+1 Group.
A comprehensive deal would commit Iran to take clear steps to
significantly curtail its nuclear program in exchange for gradual
sanctions relief.
"Coming into New York, I think many of us were not very
optimistic," a senior U.S. official said Thursday. "But clearly,
over meetings over the last two days both with Iran and with my
P5+1 and EU colleagues, it is clear that everyone has come here to
go to work."
Speaking in New York on Wednesday evening, Iran's Foreign
Minister Javad Zarif said his side was "committed to resolving this
issue." But Mr. Zarif said Iranian trust in U.S. intentions
remained low. A senior Western diplomat who visited Tehran recently
said top Iranian officials were pessimistic about a deal, openly
questioning Washington's desire for an agreement.
Gaps have narrowed, but not closed, on a range of issues
including a future inspections regime under a nuclear deal, the
final design of Iran's heavy water reactor in Arak and the future
of Iran's underground Fordow nuclear site.
However, the two sides remain openly at odds over the slow pace
of Iran's explanations of its past nuclear activities and over the
duration of a nuclear deal. However the sharpest difference is over
the caps a nuclear deal would place on Iran's future enrichment
program.
In July, Iranian officials said they were prepared to maintain
or modestly reduce their current enrichment program under a final
deal but Western officials say it should be sharply reduced.
"The Iranians have said over these many days and weeks how
reasonable and flexible they are...and about how their current
capacity should be acceptable," the senior U.S. official said. "But
the status quo is not doable for any of us."
The official said the six power group has been offering
"creative solutions" over the summer but that Iran hadn't been
immediately responsive.
"There is a unique opportunity over this next week and a half
when heads of state, foreign ministers...are gathered in New York,"
the official said. "There is an opportunity to... see whether the
outlines, and...the details of a potential agreement begin to
emerge."
A second western diplomat said there were signs in bilateral
talks this week that Iran realized it must show more flexibility on
enrichment. But the official said it remained unclear whether they
could "significantly narrow the gaps" during the New York
talks.
Friday's talks started with a brief meeting of top negotiators
from Iran and the P5+1 at the U.N. There will be a mix of bilateral
and multilateral meetings in coming days at expert and senior
official levels.
Foreign ministers are likely to meet although that hasn't been
confirmed. U.S. President Barack Obama is "open to" meeting with
Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, the senior U.S. official said
Thursday, but nothing is yet planned. At last year's general
assembly, the two leaders held a historic phone call but didn't
meet.
Write to Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com
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