Iran-5+1 group N-talks: Opportunities and challenges

The third round of nuclear talks between Islamic Republic of Iran and the G-5+1 (consisting of the 5 self-imposed permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) starts today in Geneva, Switzerland. Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has arrived in Geneva to take part in the new round of negotiations. Zarif had a short stop in Italy on Tuesday where he met and conferred with his Italian counterpart Emma Bonino.

As the negotiations draw near, the Iranian president and the British prime minister held a phone conversation in which they reviewed the latest developments on the nuclear talks.

In this phone conversation, President Rouhani referring to the course of the Geneva talks and the preparatory results thereof, said we shouldn’t let some people obstruct the win-win trend of this effective measure.

Pointing that Iran expects the other party to show serious will, Rouhani made it clear, “Under no circumstances will we accept discrimination and we are ready to pay attention to the logical concerns of the two parties in equal negotiations and with mutual respect.”

The Iranian president also conversed with his Chinese counterpart saying that the Islamic Republic is after an agreement which, besides defending its legal inalienable rights, will prove that it pursues a peaceful program.

The overall trend of the talks has now shaped round confidence building; but what matter is the way of building confidence.

Confidence building has a two-way nature and it should include preservation of Iran’s inalienable rights in the nuclear issue. But if the western concept of confidence building translates means erasing Iran’s nuclear issue itself that would set the ground for confidence destruction. Thus, it is yet to be seen whether the western party has the capacity to practice what is required for continuation of the trend of confidence building. Once this is materialized, the first step will be focused on lifting the illegal sanctions including release of Iran’s bank accounts frozen by the west.

As evidence shows there has been some breakthroughs in the Geneva talks; but if these breakthroughs are subjected to pressures and biased objectives by some of the negotiators leading to extra expectations, the course toward reaching a win-win agreement will be very winding.

The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that the negotiations should be based on mutual respect and equal steps so that no solution is imposed. What is obvious is that the Islamic Republic has presented its proposals to the Geneva session and the opposite party has been attracted and has assessed it as constructive. Recently Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have also agreed on necessary mechanisms for answering the questions of the agency and disambiguation of nuclear activities.

All these preparations show that the Islamic Republic is resolutely ready to find a peaceful solution for nuclear issue and has taken the first step with good will; but reaching a final agreement is in exigent need of reciprocal will for such a move should be completed by all negotiators.