Kerry Dismisses Iran’s Call for New Nuclear Proposal

Secretary of State John Kerry said today that warming relations between United States and Iran do not mean the U.S. will back off its demands about Iran’s nuclear program.

Kerry made the remarks during a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Bali. Kerry was effectively responding to yesterday’s remarks by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif who had said the current P5+1 proposal made in Almaty in February was “history,” and the P5+1 should come to negotiating table with Iran with a new approach. Iran had never responded to the Almaty proposal.

“We’re waiting for the fullness of the Iranian difference in their approach now,” Kerry said “But we’re encouraged by the statements that were made in New York, and we’re encouraged by the outreach.”

Lavrov, who will be attending next week’s Geneva talks on Iran nuclear program, P5+1 wants “a road map which would, at the end of the day, satisfy the international community that the Iranian nuclear program is entirely peaceful” and put under the full control of international nuclear monitors.

“Iran probably wants more clarity, more specific steps to be spelled out on the road to the result which we all want to achieve,” Lavrov said. “And I think this would be discussed next week in Geneva.” (The Washington Post, 7 October)

Photo credit: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov take part in a press conference on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, October 7, 2013. (Sonny Tumbelaka/AFP/Getty Images/WashPost)

Almaty Talks End

Long and Intensive Discussions – But No Deal

 Almaty talks ended today after what was described as “long and intensive discussions,” but the positions of Iran and P5+1 still remained too far apart to strike a deal. The date and location of next round of talks is being worked out.

EU foreign policy chief summed up the seriousness of the talks by telling reporters that the two sides had never engaged in back and forth discussions as intensely as was the case today in Almaty.   

Photo credit: Delegates form U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany meeting with Iranian negotiators in Almaty, April 5, 2013. (Ilyas Omarov/Pool/Reuters)

Almaty Talks Reportedly Stumble

The first day of talks between Iran and the six world powers ended in Almaty, with the two sides reportedly “long way apart on substance,” the Guardian reported.

Iran reportedly did not respond directly to the offer by P5+1 made in Almaty last February and instead put forward a rework of its proposal offered during talks in Moscow last year that ended in stalemate.

“We had a substantial exchange but there is a wide gulf between the parties. We are considering how to proceed from here. We are expecting the talks to continue tomorrow morning but we are still a long way from agreement,” a source told the Guardian. (The Guardian, 5 April)

The talks will continue for a second day on Saturday.

Iran Says It Put Forward “Comprehensive Proposal” at Almaty

After the first plenary session of nuclear talks between Iran and P+1 in Almaty today, Ali Baqeri, the deputy head of the Iranian delegation, told reporters that Iran has put forward a new “comprehensive proposal” that it hoped would “establish a new bedrock for cooperation.” 



The New York Times reported that the Iranian statement was “a bewildering surprise” to other negotiators, who said they had not received any concrete new proposal during the meeting this morning.

“We are somewhat puzzled by the Iranians’ characterization of what they presented at this morning’s plenary,” a Western official told the New York Times. “There were some interesting but not fully explained general comments on our ideas.”

Talks continued in the afternoon.

“What we are hoping is that the Iranian side will come back to us today with a clear and concrete response,” said Michael Mann, the spokesman for Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief and chairwoman of P5+1, during a news conference before the talks started. “The confidence-building measure has to come from Iran,” Mr. Mann said.

Earlier this week, Russia emphasized the importance of recognizing Iran’s right to enrich uranium by P5+1 as a step necessary to trike an agreement.

“We believe a long-term settlement should be based on the recognition of Iran’s unconditional right to develop its civilian nuclear program, including the right to enrich uranium provided that all nuclear activity is put under supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency,” said Igor Morgulov, deputy Russian foreign minister. (Interfax/NYT)

But a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said expectations were modest for the Almaty talks. “Regrettably, the two sides have not yet started to move toward formulating compromise-based agreements,” the spokesman, Aleksandr Lukasevich, said in Moscow on Thursday.

File photo: Almaty Talks I, February 2013 (Press TV)