We don’t want nuclear weapons, insists Iran

Don’t expect a breakthrough - but the chances for progress have seldom been better. This is the message coming from Iran and six world powers ahead of renewed talks this week meant to end a decade of deadlock on Tehran’s nuclear program.

The two sides come to the negotiating table in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday amid a feel-good atmosphere that began with the June election of centrist Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Subsequent conciliatory comments by Iranian officials were capped last month by a phone call between Rouhani and President Barack Obama - the first conversation between U.S. and Iranian leaders in more than three decades.

Iran insists it does not want nuclear weapons. But building on the momentum of that telephone call, Iranian officials from Rouhani down say their country is ready to meet some international demands to reduce its nuclear activities.

If so, the talks - including the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany - could be the launching pad for a deal that has proven elusive since negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program began in 2003. A deal would also reduce the threat of war between Iran and Israel and possibly the United States.

The latter two nations’ leaders have repeatedly warned they would never accept a nuclear-armed Iran, a pledge repeated ahead of the talks by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Speaking on Sunday in London he noted that while ‘the window for diplomacy is cracking open,’ Obama ‘means what he says’ when he vows not to allow Tehran to progress to such weapons. As to the talks, ‘no deal is better than a bad deal,’ Kerry said, serving notice that Washington would not compromise on demands it sees are necessary to ensure that Iran’s atomic activities remain peaceful.From the six-power perspective, the ideal solution would be for Tehran to scale back aspects of its nuclear program that many nations fear could aid in making a bomb. That would trigger a gradual lifting of the economic sanctions crippling Tehran’s economy. Even if achievable, an end-game is far away.

Gary Samore, part of the U.S. nuclear negotiating team with Iran until earlier this year, says the Geneva talks offer ‘the best opportunity of a decade.’ At the same time, he expects ‘a very slow grind.’ Heading Iran’s delegation at the talks is Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, a veteran, U.S.-educated diplomat who honed his skills as part of Tehran’s team negotiating a cease-fire with Iraq 25 years ago. He says his country is ready to allow more intrusive international perusal of Tehran’s nuclear program.

Other Iranian officials, meanwhile, say there is room to discuss international concerns about Iranian uranium enrichment to 20 percent - a level that is higher than most reactors use for power and only a technical step away from weapons-grade uranium suitable for warheads. Iran now has nearly 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of 20 percent-enriched uranium in a form that can be quickly upgraded for weapons use, says the U.N’s atomic agency, which keeps tabs on Iran’s nuclear activities. agencies