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5 p.m. IRDT, 29 Khordad/June 18 The new round of negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group -- the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany -- began in Moscow at 2:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, and lasted about two hours. The P5+1 has been pressing Iran to immediately suspend uranium enrichment at 19.75 percent, ship out its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and shut down the Fordow facility near Qom.
Iran has been pushing for the suspension of at least some of the sanctions imposed by the European countries and for P5+1 recognition of Iran's right to enrich uranium. "These negotiations are a great test for the West, as to whether they can tolerate Iran's progress," Mehr News Agency, which is owned by the Organization for Islamic Propaganda, quoted Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, as saying just before entering the talks.
Mehr also quoted Michael Mann, a spokesman for Catherine Ashton, the E.U. foreign policy chief who leads the P5+1 delegation, as telling reporters, "There is a good environment in the negotiation, and everything is proceeding calmly." According to the report, it was agreed during the last phone conversation between Ashton and Jalili that Iran's proposal would be discussed during the negotiations. When told by a reporter for ISNA, the Iranian Students News Agency, that Iran believes that the P5+1 must first recognize Iran's right to enrich uranium, after which it will be prepared to negotiate over the group's proposal by, Mann responded, "No, Iran must first respond to [the] P5+1 [proposal]." Mann then claimed that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty does not explicitly mention that every member state has the right to enrich uranium. "Our priority at this point is for Iran to respond to our requests and proposal that we gave Iran in writing [in Baghdad], which is that Iran suspend uranium enrichment at 20 percent [more precisely, 19.75 percent], ship out its stockpile of the 20 percent enriched uranium to outside the country, and close the Fordow enrichment facility."
When asked whether the P5+1 really believes that the sanctions will force Iran to retreat, Mann responded, "Sanctions are a clear policy that has produced results. There exist European sanctions on Iran's oil exports. Of course, the sanctions may be relaxed, if there are real changes. For every step, there will be a reciprocal step. We must recognize the steps clearly. We do not want to negotiate for the sake of negotiating. These [points] were reviewed during the phone conversations between Ashton and Jalili." When asked what the P5+1 will do if Iran suspends enrichment at 20 percent, Mann repeated the same minor concessions that the West offered in Baghdad: "Iran will receive parts for [old] aircraft [bought from Europe and the United States] and aid for the Tehran Research Reactor."
IRNA, Iran's state news agency, quoted an unnamed Iranian official as saying that the Islamic Republic will abide by certain principles and not withdraw from them in the slightest. "The least expected by the Iranian negotiators from the P5+1 is acknowledging Iran's right to uranium enrichment. If they do not recognize Iran's right to nuclear enrichment in Moscow, the talks will surely fail," he said. According to IRNA, the source said that the Western media has been creating the impression that the Moscow talks are doomed. "If our right to uranium enrichment is not officially recognized, Iran does not fear the failure of negotiations anyhow. Iran wants the P5+1 to abide by the agreements reached in Baghdad regarding holding talks on five topics as proposed by Tehran. As long as we do not discuss the five issues, we do not have anything to do in subsequent rounds of negotiations," he concluded.
The New York Times quoted an unidentified Western official as saying that the major powers are "poised to take reciprocal steps in exchange for verifiable Iranian actions," presumably beyond the minor concessions offered in Baghdad.
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