The Geneva talks are ending today after Iran concluded its detailed
proposal for nuclear deal. The next round of talks will be held soon in Geneva,
reportedly on 7-8 November. The P5+1 would then present its response to the
Iranian proposal to end the decade-old nuclear impasse.
The Iranian
foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and the EU foreign policy chief,
Catherine Ashton are expected to issue a joint statement later today.
Zarif’s PowerPoint presentation on Tuesday laid out a roadmap, which reportedly
envisages an initial confidence-building period of six months, when undisclosed
limits would be put on Iran’s uranium enrichment program in return for
some sanctions relief, the Guardian reported today. The follow-up second and
third stages will lead to “a new equilibrium in relations between
Iran and the rest of the world, in which Iran continues to enrich uranium under
agreed limits but without sanctions.” (The Guardian, 16 October)
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is quoted as saying the
proposal would include Iran’s acceptance of “Additional Protocol,” an intrusive
inspections regime by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Araqchi’s
announcement of the proposed inspection regime is the single most important
development yet reported. It will break years of paralysis that gripped
previous rounds of negotiations.
A number of important issues need to be resolved at the end of the process, but
the two sides seem poised to strike a final deal within months. Among the
issues beyond the acceptance of “Additional Protocol,” are the limits on
uranium enrichment and the plutonium-based IR-40 reactor in Arak.
Photo
credit: EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton sits with Iran's foreign
minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at the start of two days of nuclear talks in
Geneva. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images/The Guardian)
