Iran’s Proposals under Debate in Geneva
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Participants in the new round of talks on Tehran’s nuclear program discussed Iran's package of proposals in the first day of negotiations in Geneva, an Iranian official said.
The new round of talks on Tehran’s nuclear program was attended by senior diplomats representing the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Group5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany), at the Palais des Nations in Geneva earlier on Tuesday and is to continue tomorrow.
According to an official close to the Iranian team, the evening session of nuclear talks on Tuesday revolved around Iran’s proposed plan that was offered to the representatives of G5+1 countries earlier in the day.
Tehran has presented a three-step plan that aims to bring the standoff over the Islamic Republic’s peaceful nuclear program to an end, but details of the proposals have not been revealed so far.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi who now leads Iranian team of negotiators, said in a press conference today that his country presented its three-step proposal during the first session of negotiations in Geneva.
In his press conference, Araqchi declined to give any details about the plan’s contents, but outlined the general features of the proposals as the following: First, using the Supreme Leader’s fatwa as the most important step; second, commitment from the G5+1 to recognize Iran’s right to enrich uranium and enjoy nuclear facilities, including research reactors; and third, peaceful nuclear cooperation between the two sides, transparency and supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and lifting all the anti-Iran sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council.
Araghchi said the Iranian plan's formal name was "An End to the Unnecessary Crisis and a Beginning for Fresh Horizons." He described it as having many new ideas but added negotiators had agreed to keep the details confidential during the morning bargaining session.
He had earlier said that Iran’s package was based on “the same step-by-step approach which was brought up and generally agreed on” in meetings with the six powers taking part in the nuclear talks, adding that the “logical, balanced and realistic” plan makes it possible for both sides to take the first step toward breaking the deadlock over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.
A spokesman for the European Union foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, who oversees diplomacy with Iran on behalf of the six world powers, described the Iranian presentation as very useful.
