US: Deal with Iran not to address enrichment

Top US official Kerry on Wednesday said that the issue of whether the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, the P5 +1, will agree to nuclear enrichment inside Iran will not be decided in an interim deal under discussion in Geneva.

The top US diplomat said a preliminary nuclear deal with Iran being discussed in Geneva is a first step and will not address the topic of enrichment. “Whatever a country decides or doesn’t decide to do, or is allowed to do under the rules, depends on a negotiation,” Kerry said.

He asserted that that all sides are closer than they’ve been in a long time on a nuclear deal. “We have the best chance we’ve had in a decade.”

On Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister – and top nuclear negotiator – Mohammad Javad Zarif met with European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton, who is leading representatives from the P5 +1 in negotiations with Tehran.

Afterwards, Iran and the six powers held a brief preliminary session of the new round of talks.

During the last round of talks in Geneva on November 7-10, a first-step agreement was within reach but the position taken by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in favor of the Israel and a lack of commitment by the US secretary of state spoiled the negotiations.

Before the new round of negotiations which began on November 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was optimistic about the diplomatic efforts aimed at ending a decade-long dispute between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

Iran is determined to pursue its inalienable nuclear rights during the ongoing negotiations with the P5+1, saying its right to nuclear enrichment inside the country is a “red line” which is not negotiable.