Iran in nuclear talks with Western powers

Iran traded proposals with six world powers including the US yesterday. The proposal is aimed at persuading Tehran to ease atomic weapons concerns that have been circling since 2003. 

Since the trade in proposals there has been no breakthrough in the Iraqi capital, suggesting that all sides from the United Nations Security Council and Iran are still shaping their strategies. It is expected to be a long and complex process before any negotiation is made. 

However, the UNSC (consisting of Germany and permanent members the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and France) has suggested that the process will be done “quickly and smoothly”.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said: “The announcement of the deal is one thing, but the implementation is what we’re going to be looking for.”

“The U.S. wants access to all of the locations, the documents and the personnel that the IAEA requires in order to determine whether Iran’s programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes.”

U.S. and European allies are said to be toning down threats of military action in Iran. Western powers are preparing to offer Iran an “oil carrot” in exchange for guarantees it is not building an atomic bomb.

Yet an Iranian official said: “A possible swap of uranium enriched by Iran for fuel isn’t very interesting for us because we are already producing our own fuel.”

The West’s main concern at the moment is Iran’s production of uranium enriched to 20 per cent. This is more than is needed to produce regular energy levels, which has left suspicions as to why it is so high.

“Iran wants to destroy Israel and it is developing nuclear weapons to fulfil that goal,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “Against this malicious intention, leading world powers need to display determination and not weakness. They should not make any concessions to Iran.”

A spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said: “There are things we can do for Iran.”

“We hope the Iranians will come back with a positive reaction to our proposals to deal with the concerns of the international community.”

One way for the Iranian government to win over the UNSC would be to implement the proposal for the Iranian government to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which allows for more intrusive inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Matthew Warcup