BICOM

With Iranian officials and representatives of the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) set to resume talks on Thursday, a senior member of the US negotiating team said yesterday that the two sides remain “far apart” on Iran’s nuclear development.

Delivering a talk at Georgetown University, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman said that the United States aims to use the talks to “develop a plan of lasting duration that would block all of the Islamic Republic’s potential paths to a nuclear weapon.” She warned that nuclear armament would give Iran “devastating power far beyond its borders, threatening Israel.” Although talks between the two sides “have been serious,” Sherman said, “to get to a comprehensive agreement, we remain far apart on other core issues.”

Iran and the P5+1 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, both sides are now looking to broker a longer-term settlement, but were unable to meet a 20 July deadline. The last round of talks concluded with an arrangement to extend the talks until 24 November. The negotiations starting this week are widely viewed as crucial to the chances of meeting the renewed deadline.

Several significant sticking points between the two sides remain. In particular, Sherman said that these include 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 said that his country needs 190,000 centrifuges.

With regards to uranium enrichment, Sherman said, “I fully expect in the days ahead that Iran will try to convince the world that on this pivotal matter, the status quo – or its equivalent – should be acceptable. It is not.” She added, “If it were, we wouldn’t be involved in this difficult and very painstaking negotiation.”