Iran resumes nuclear talks with world powers
21 March 2014 4:22 AM IST
Iran and world powers locked horns on Wednesday over the fate of a planned Iranian nuclear reactor that could yield plutonium for bombs, diplomats said, although Tehran’s foreign minister voiced optimism that their 20 July deadline for a deal is within reach.
The meeting in Vienna is the second in a series that the six nations - the United States, China, Russia, Germany, France, Britain - hope will produce a verifiable settlement on the scope of Iran’s nuclear activity, ensuring it is oriented for peaceful purposes, and put to rest the risk of a new Middle East war.
At this week’s round, the two sides attempted to iron out their positions on two of the most thorny issues: the level of uranium enrichment conducted in Iran, and its Arak heavy water reactor that the West sees as a possible source of plutonium.
The United States has called on Iran to scrap or radically alter the planned reactor, but Tehran has so far rejected that idea while hinting they could modify it. A Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity that the goal of the current round of negotiations was not to reach any final agreements. ‘The goal of these sessions is not to solve any topics at this point (but) to be talking through the gaps and working on how to narrow them,’ the diplomat said.
Western nations want to ensure that the Arak reactor, which is still under construction, is modified sufficiently to ensure it poses no bomb proliferation risk. Iran insists the facility will be free to operate under any deal, saying it will be geared solely to producing radio-isotopes for medical treatments.
The meeting in Vienna is the second in a series that the six nations - the United States, China, Russia, Germany, France, Britain - hope will produce a verifiable settlement on the scope of Iran’s nuclear activity, ensuring it is oriented for peaceful purposes, and put to rest the risk of a new Middle East war.
At this week’s round, the two sides attempted to iron out their positions on two of the most thorny issues: the level of uranium enrichment conducted in Iran, and its Arak heavy water reactor that the West sees as a possible source of plutonium.
The United States has called on Iran to scrap or radically alter the planned reactor, but Tehran has so far rejected that idea while hinting they could modify it. A Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity that the goal of the current round of negotiations was not to reach any final agreements. ‘The goal of these sessions is not to solve any topics at this point (but) to be talking through the gaps and working on how to narrow them,’ the diplomat said.
Western nations want to ensure that the Arak reactor, which is still under construction, is modified sufficiently to ensure it poses no bomb proliferation risk. Iran insists the facility will be free to operate under any deal, saying it will be geared solely to producing radio-isotopes for medical treatments.
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