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Kerry, Ashton, Zarif in ‘difficult’ Iran nuclear talks, significant gaps remain
According to American and Iranian officials, some headway was made during a meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. However, reports suggest major issues remain regarding Iran’s nuclear programme.
Kerry reportedly left Vienna yesterday morning after six hours of talks, while Ashton and Zarif continued to discuss efforts by the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) and Iran to reach a long-term agreement over Tehran’s nuclear programme. The two sides concluded a six-month agreement in Geneva in November, which saw Tehran reduce some of its enrichment capacity in return for a loosening of selected sanctions. However, they were unable to meet a 20 July deadline to broker a longer-term settlement and agreed to extend the talks until 24 November. There appeared to be little significant progress during the last round of negotiations on 24 September to indicate that the deadline will be met.
However, Reuters reports that American officials said progress was made this week, while Zarif told Iranian media that the talks were “difficult” but that, “There was progress in all the fields.” Ashton’s spokesman, Michael Mann said that negotiations are in a “critical phase.”
Several significant gaps remain between the two sides, most notably the size and scope of Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity. The P5+1 powers reportedly want Tehran to reduce its number of centrifuges to 5,000 while Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has previously said that his country needs 190,000 centrifuges. AP suggests that the United States this week offered to allow more centrifuges than previously planned, if Iran reduces its stockpile of low-enriched uranium, which can be easily turned into weapons-grade material.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister and chief negotiator Sergei Ryabkov told the RIA Novosti news agency that two additional stumbling blocks exist between Iran and the P5+1, namely the future of Iran’s Arak research reactor and how sanctions might be lifted.