Showing posts with label Iran. Show all posts

Thursday 16 October 2014

Iran, U.S. say some headway made in 'difficult' nuclear talks

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(Reuters) - Iran and the United States said they made some progress in high-level nuclear talks but much work remained to clinch a breakthrough deal by a late-November deadline.

Both sides said they still aimed to meet the self-imposed Nov. 24 date, despite doubts among many experts that they can reach a full agreement to end a decade-old dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme with just a few weeks remaining.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry left Vienna early on Thursday after six hours of talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton the previous day, but his officials remained to continue the talks through Thursday.

"It was very difficult, serious and intensive ... but instead of focusing on problems, we discussed solutions as well," Zarif told Iranian media on Thursday, sources who were present told Reuters. "There was progress in all the fields."

The U.S. side also said progress was made.

Zarif said he would next meet Kerry and Ashton in three to four weeks' time though not in Vienna, Iranian state television reported. Ashton coordinates talks with Iran on behalf of the six other countries involved, including the United States.

Ashton and Zarif met on Thursday with senior officials from the six - the United States, France, Germany, China, Russia and Britain - before the Iranian foreign minister left Vienna.

The talks are in a “critical phase”, Ashton's spokesman said.

"We are trying hard to make progress and remain fully engaged to achieve a comprehensive solution” by the deadline, Michael Mann said in a statement, adding that experts would meet in coming days to continue technical work.

Relations with the West have thawed since Hassan Rouhani was elected president last year seeking to end Iran's international isolation, and the talks are aimed at easing concerns about Tehran's atomic activities in exchange for lifting sanctions.

But Western officials say there are still gaps in the positions, especially over the future scope of Iran's production of enriched uranium, which can have civilian and military uses.

NUCLEAR "PATHWAYS"

One of Iran's chief negotiators, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, last week raised the possibility the talks could be extended, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that the deadline was not "sacred".

But Zarif said none of the parties believed in extending the talks, IRIB said. A senior U.S. official said an extension was not discussed, adding: "You never say never, but today we are focussed on Nov. 24 and Nov. 24 only.”

Western governments want Iran to cut its uranium enrichment capacity so that it would take a long time to purify enough uranium for an atomic weapon. Tehran, which says all its nuclear work is for peaceful ends, has rejected demands to significantly reduce the number of enrichment centrifuges below the 19,000 it has now installed, of which roughly half are operating.

The U.S. official said gaps in negotiating positions must be narrowed in a way that "ensures that all of the pathways for fissile material for a nuclear weapon are shut down."

Russia's chief negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, said three key areas - uranium enrichment, the future of Iran's Arak research reactor and how to lift sanctions – had not yet been resolved, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Friday 26 September 2014

US Considers New Offer To Iran At Nuke Talks

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(AP) — The U.S. is considering softening present demands that Iran gut its uranium enrichment program in favor of a new proposal that would allow Tehran to keep nearly half of the project intact while placing other constraints on its possible use as a path to nuclear weapons, diplomats told The Associated Press.

The initiative, revealed late Thursday, comes after months of nuclear negotiations between Iran and six world powers that have failed to substantially narrow differences over the future size and capacity of Tehran's uranium enrichment program. Iran insists it does not want atomic arms but the West is only willing to lift nuclear-related sanctions if Tehran agrees to substantially shrink enrichment and other activities that Iran could turn toward making such weapons.

The U.S., which fears Tehran may enrich to weapons-grade level used to arm nuclear warheads, ideally wants no more than 1,500 centrifuges left operating. Iran insists it wants to use the technology only to make reactor fuel and for other peaceful purposes and insists it be allowed to run at least the present 9,400 machines.

The tentative new U.S. offer attempts to meet the Iranians close to half way on numbers, said two diplomats who demanded anonymity because their information is confidential. They said it envisages letting Iran keep up to 4,500 centrifuges but would reduce the stock of uranium gas fed into the machines to the point where it would take more than a year of enriching to create enough material for a nuclear warhead.

That, they said, would give the international community enough lead time to react to any such attempt.

The diplomats emphasized that the proposal is only one of several being discussed by the six powers — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — and has not yet been formally submitted to the Iranians.

Other ideas also include letting Iran have more than 1,500 machines but removing or destroying much of the infrastructure needed to make them run — wiring, pipes used to feed uranium gas and other auxiliary equipment.

Both ideas would allow the Iranians to claim that they did not compromise on vows that they would never emasculate their enrichment capabilities, while keeping intact American demands that the program be downgraded to a point where it could not be quickly turned to making bombs.

The new proposals reflect Washington's desire to advance the talks ahead of a Nov. 24 deadline that was extended from July. The current round began a week ago on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, leading to speculation that foreign ministers of the negotiating nations would join in the talks. But the diplomats said that was no longer planned because of the lack of substantial progress.

The fates of a reactor under construction near the city of Arak and of an underground enrichment facility at Fordo are also contentious issues. The U.S. and its Western allies want the reactor converted to reduce to a minimum its production of plutonium, an alternate pathway to nuclear arms. And they insist that the Fordo plant be shuttered or used for something other than enrichment because it is fortified and thought to be impervious to air attacks.

The U.S. proposal drew opposition from Israel. The country's intelligence minister, Yuval Steinitz, said in a statement that "Israel strongly objects" because it believes Iran is conducting experiments meant to "ignite the nuclear chain reaction in nuclear weapons."

Tuesday 23 September 2014

Ex US Marine Imprisoned In Iran Can Call Home

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AP) — The family of a former U.S. Marine imprisoned in Iran since his arrest three years ago on spying charges said his conditions have improved and he is now allowed to call home several times a week.

The sister and brother-in-law of Amir Hekmati acknowledge that's a big step forward for a man who spent his first 16 months held in solitary confinement in Iran's notorious Evin prison, north of the capital, Tehran. But Hekmati's relatives are unwavering in their goal to obtain his release.

"The important thing here is that he needs to come home. And our push is one of urgency," Hekmati's brother-in-law, Ramy Kurdi, told The Associated Press in an interview. Hekmati's father is dying of cancer, and "every day matters. Every day is an injustice," Kurdi said.

Hekmati, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen born in Arizona and raised in Michigan, was arrested in August 2011, then tried, convicted and sentenced to death for spying. Hekmati appealed, and Iran's Supreme Court annulled the death sentence and ordered a retrial in 2012. The country's Revolutionary Court then overturned his conviction for espionage, instead charging him with "cooperating with hostile governments" and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

The U.S. government repeatedly has denied that Hekmati is a spy. His family, which lives in Flint, Michigan, says he is innocent and only went to Iran to visit his grandmothers.

Kurdi and his wife, Hekmati's sister, Sarah, were in New York to press the case for their brother as world leaders, including Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, meet in New York for the start of the annual U.N. General Assembly. The meetings also coincide with another round of delicate negotiations focused on reducing Iran's atomic activities in exchange for an end to nuclear-related sanctions.

Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei, Hekmati's lawyer in Iran, has said he would appeal his client's 10-year prison sentence. Kurdi said one of the many options being considered was seeking a pardon for Hekmati.

"We're looking for any release. It doesn't matter to us what the medium is, what matters is just the outcome," Kurdi said.

"He could be released on the basis of the fact he's been a model prisoner, and has complied with the rules. He could be released on a humanitarian basis. The conviction itself could be set aside. There are a number of ways that he could be released," said U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat whose district includes Flint and who accompanied Hekmati's relatives to New York

The regular phone calls back home, which began about a month ago, have helped the family and Hekmati handle their grief. Hekmati is able to purchase calling cards through his prison account, and his mother arranges to have funds put on the cards for him, Sarah Hekmati said.

"Emotionally it's helped significantly just to hear his voice, even just to lift his spirits with day-to-day stories about his niece and nephew, how my dad's rehab is going, any updates about his life that he's left behind here," Sarah Hekmati said. "There are things that we're trying to manage for him and keep afloat so that he hopefully has a life to come back to when and hopefully, God willing, he is released."

But the calls, which Sarah Hekmati said generally last five to seven minutes, also are a painful reminder of their fruitless efforts to bring Hekmati home. And their father's illness — he was diagnosed with brain cancer two years ago and has recently also had a stroke — adds to the general stress.

"It's very devastating for my brother because he feels helpless ... and he's always fearful that he's going to get the news of something tragic happening to his dad while he's in prison," Sarah Hekmati said. "One of his biggest concerns when he does call the family is how dad is doing. And he's giving us pep talks to keep us strong while he's in prison."

U.S. opposes linking Iran cooperation on Islamic State to nuclear talks

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(Reuters) - The United States said on Monday it would refuse to seek Iran's cooperation in fighting Islamic State forces by being more flexible in the negotiations of six world powers with Tehran on its nuclear program.

Senior Iranian officials told Reuters that Iran is ready to work with the United States and its allies to stop Islamic State militants but would like more flexibility on Iran's uranium enrichment program in exchange.

Asked to respond, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the idea was unacceptable, remarks that echoed those from other Western powers in the negotiations with Tehran. European officials have also made clear they do not want to bring other issues into the nuclear negotiations.

Earnest said the effort by world powers, including the United States, to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear program is "entirely separate" from President Barack Obama's attempts to build a coalition against Islamic State.

"The United States will not be in the position of trading aspects of Iran's nuclear program to secure commitments to take on ISIL," Earnest said, using an acronym for Islamic State (IS).

He also said the United States would not coordinate the coalition's military activities with the Iranians and would not share intelligence on Islamic State with Iran.

Islamic State forces have seized swathes of Iraq and Syria and proclaimed a caliphate. They stand accused of massacres of civilians, beheadings and other human rights violations.

While not surprising, the U.S. response suggests the White House feels a need to tell Iran publicly that it wants other issues kept away from the nuclear talks.

The comments from Iranian officials about linking the nuclear negotiations and the fight against Islamic State highlight how difficult it may be for the Western powers to separate the atomic negotiations from other topics.

Iran wields influence in the Syrian civil war and on the Iraqi government, which is fighting the advance of Islamic State fighters.

The latest round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China began last week and is expected to run at least until Friday.

No major breakthroughs are expected in the negotiations in New York, which are aimed at coming up with a deal that would end sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. The sides have set a Nov. 24 deadline for a long-term accord between Iran and the six powers.

Monday 22 September 2014

Exclusive: Iran seeks give and take on Islamic State militants, nuclear program

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(Reuters) - Iran is ready to work with the United States and its allies to stop Islamic State militants, but would like more flexibility on Iran's uranium enrichment program in exchange, senior Iranian officials told Reuters.

The comments from the officials, who asked not to be named, highlight how difficult it may be for the Western powers to keep the nuclear negotiations separate from other regional conflicts. Iran wields influence in the Syrian civil war and on the Iraqi government, which is fighting the advance of Islamic State fighters.

Iran has sent mixed signals about its willingness to cooperate on defeating Islamic State (IS), a hard-line Sunni Islamist group that has seized large swaths of territory across Syria and Iraq and is blamed for a wave of sectarian violence, beheadings and massacres of civilians.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said recently that he vetoed a U.S. overture to the Islamic Republic to work together on defeating IS, but U.S. officials said there was no such offer. In public, both Washington and Tehran have ruled out cooperating militarily in tackling the IS threat.

But in private, Iranian officials have voiced a willingness to work with the United States on IS, though not necessarily on the battlefield. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that Iran has a role to play in defeating Islamic State, indicating the U.S. position may also be shifting.

"Iran is a very influential country in the region and can help in the fight against the ISIL (IS) terrorists ... but it is a two-way street. You give something, you take something," said a senior Iranian official on condition of anonymity.

"ISIL is a threat to world security, not our (nuclear) program, which is a peaceful program," the official added.

Tehran rejects Western allegations that it is amassing the capability to produce atomic weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear energy program.

Another Iranian official echoed the remarks. Both officials said they would like the United States and its Western allies to show flexibility on the number of atomic centrifuges Tehran could keep under any long-term deal that would lift sanctions in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear program.

"Both sides can show flexibility that will lead to an acceptable number for everyone," another Iranian official said.

WEST WANTS TO KEEP ATOMIC TALKS SEPARATE

Kerry held bilateral talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York for more than an hour on Sunday, a senior State Department official said. The meeting focused on the need to make progress in this week's nuclear talks and the threat of Islamic State.

The official did not provide details on the discussions between Kerry and Zarif, who met for the first time a year ago on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly when Iran and six world powers reopened negotiations with Tehran.

Western officials told Reuters that Iran has not raised this idea in nuclear negotiations with the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China that resumed in New York on Friday. Diplomats close to the talks say they are unlikely to settle in New York on a long-term accord that would lift sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iranian nuclear work.

The Western officials said it would be difficult for them to even discuss the point in the atomic negotiations as the United States and its allies are determined to keep the nuclear negotiations focused exclusively on atomic issues as the Nov. 24 deadline for a deal nears.

"We are seeing as we get closer to the end of the talks that the Iranians are tempted to bring other dossiers to the table," a senior Western diplomat said.

"They sometimes indicate that if there were to not be a (nuclear) deal, the other dossiers in region would be more complicated," he added. "The six are determined not to bring the other subjects to the nuclear negotiations table."

The New York talks among senior foreign ministry officials from the six powers and Iran are taking place on the sidelines of this week's annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly.

The number of nuclear centrifuges has emerged as the principal sticking point in negotiations, which are expected to continue in New York until at least Sept. 26.

Centrifuges are machines that spin at supersonic speed to increase the ratio of the fissile isotope in uranium. Low-enriched uranium is used to fuel nuclear power plants, Iran's stated goal, but can also provide material for bombs if refined much further, which the West fears may be Iran's latent goal.

Iran currently has over 19,000 centrifuges, though only around 10,000 of those are operational. The six powers want Iran to reduce the number of operational centrifuges to the low thousands, to ensure it cannot quickly produce enough bomb-grade uranium for a weapon, should it choose to do so.

Iranians are keen to keep as many of their centrifuges as possible, and have also suggested that they could keep all 19,000 installed while maintaining a much smaller number in an operational state. Western officials say they dislike that idea.

U.S. officials have made clear for months that the number of centrifuges they are willing to tolerate operating in Iran over the medium term would be in the low thousands to ensure that Tehran's ability to produce a usable amount of bomb-grade uranium, should it go down that road, is severely limited.

Iran says such draconian limitations would be a violation of its right to enrich. Supreme Leader Khamenei has called that issue a "red line" for Tehran.

Centrifuges are not the only sticking point in the talks. Others include the duration of any nuclear deal, the timetable for ending the sanctions, and the fate of a research reactor that could yield significant quantities of bomb-grade plutonium.

Under a November 2013 interim deal, Iran froze some parts of its atomic program in exchange for limited sanctions relief. That agreement was intended to buy time for negotiations on a comprehensive deal that end the decade-long standoff with Iran and remove the risk of yet another war in the Middle East.

(Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton in New York, John Irish in Paris and Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Sunday 21 September 2014

United States says role for Iran in tackling Islamic State

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(Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that Iran had a role to play in a global coalition to tackle Islamic State militants who have seized swaths of Iraq and Syria and proclaimed a caliphate in the heart of the Middle East.

"The coalition required to eliminate ISIL (Islamic State) is not only, or even primarily, military in nature," Kerry told a United Nations Security Council meeting on Iraq.

"It must be comprehensive and include close collaboration across multiple lines of effort. It's about taking out an entire network, decimating and discrediting a militant cult masquerading as a religious movement," he said. "There is a role for nearly every country in the world to play, including Iran."

Kerry's remarks appeared to represent a shift away from previous U.S. statements indicating a reluctance to cooperate with Iran to confront the threat of Islamic State. The United States cut off diplomatic ties with Tehran during a hostage crisis after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The United States, president of the U.N. Security Council for September, called the meeting on Iraq as it builds an international military, political and financial coalition to defeat the radical Sunni Muslim group.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, this week said he had rejected an offer by Washington for talks on fighting Islamic State. Kerry said he refused to be drawn into a "back and forth" with Iran over the issue.

Shi'ite Muslim-dominated Iran is a key ally of the governments in Iraq and Syria.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is the only country in the region that is both capable of and has shown unqualified determination to help the Iraqi government and coordinate with it to assist all those threatened by ISIL," Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told the council.

"Any real and genuine initiative to remedy regional predicaments needs to originate from within the region and be based on regional cooperation. Combating extremism is not an exception," he said, repeating Tehran's official view.

Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are expected to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly next week where Islamic State and Tehran's nuclear program will likely be among key topics of discussion.

U.S. President Barack Obama has said 40 nations have pledged help to a coalition against Islamic State. French jets struck a suspected Islamic State target in Iraq for the first time on Friday, joining a U.S. bombing campaign that started a month ago when Iraq asked for help.

"In 2003, acting against Iraq was something that divided this council; in 2014, acting for Iraq and against the (Islamic State) ... terrorists is a duty for all of us," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told the U.N. Security Council, referring to French opposition to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The U.N. Security Council on Friday adopted a statement urging "the international community, in accordance with international law, to further strengthen and expand support for the government of Iraq as it fights ISIL (Islamic State) and associated armed groups."

The U.N. special envoy to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, said the United Nations estimates some 8,500 have been killed during clashes in Iraq since January and more than 16,000 injured.

"ISIL is a scourge that has brought untold sorrow to the people of Iraq and Syria," Mladenov told the Security Council. "They have shown contempt for equality, fundamental human rights and the dignity and worth of the human person."

The United States is also planning to carry out air strikes against Islamic State in Syria, while the U.S. Congress on Thursday gave final approval to Obama's plan for training and arming moderate Syrian rebels to take on the militants.

Other Western powers have been more reluctant to launch military strikes in Syria, which could be seen to bolster President Bashar al-Assad. Western states have repeatedly called for Assad's departure over his crackdown on popular protests in 2011 that sparked a civil war, now in its fourth year.

Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin warned that any action by an international coalition against Islamic State should be in line with international law and the U.N. Charter.

He said Russia, long an ally of the Syrian government, was "extremely concerned" about possible air strikes against the militants in Syria without the Damascus government's approval.

"International counter terrorist operations should be carried out either with the approval of the sovereign government or with the approval of the U.N. Security Council," Churkin told the council.

"Any other options are considered illegal and undermine international and regional stability," he said.

Iran's Araqchi said the fight against Islamic State would only be successful if the relevant central governments were enabled to "deal with this menace."

"Any strategy that undermines these authorities, including the Syrian government ... will be a recipe for defeat," he said.
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