Iraqi on Negotiations: We Are Still Far from a Solution

Abbas Araqchi, a member of Iran's nuclear negotiating team, after six hours of talks with American officials, assessed the atmosphere of the sessions as 'good' while stating that 'there is still a distance to reach a solution.' On the first day of comprehensive nuclear talks between Iran and the 1+5 group during the seven-month extension of negotiations, the negotiating teams of Iran and the U.S., led by Abbas Araqchi and Wendy Sherman, the deputy foreign ministers of the two countries, held discussions on Monday, December 15, in Geneva, the capital of Switzerland. According to Araqchi, these discussions will continue on Tuesday morning as well. On Tuesday, December 16, he stated that in the negotiations on Monday, there were 'detailed discussions' at the level of deputies and experts on all issues, especially the topic of sanctions. Araqchi noted that discussions have now become 'very detailed and intricate,' adding, 'In some cases, there are solutions, and in some stages, more effort and discussion are needed.' Reports indicate that the main points of contention between Iran and the 1+5 group are the duration of the final agreement, the level of Iran's uranium enrichment, and the manner of lifting sanctions against Iran's nuclear program. French President Francois Hollande had previously outlined four conditions for a nuclear agreement with Iran on Sunday, November 17, 2013: 'stopping the 20% uranium enrichment, international control over all of Iran's nuclear facilities, reducing enriched uranium stocks, and halting operations at the Arak heavy water facility.' Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, stated on Tuesday, December 9, that based on an 'unwritten' agreement, Iran does not intend to start new centrifuges or inject active UF6 gas into the IR8 centrifuge until the nuclear negotiations with the 1+5 countries continue. The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister further stated on Tuesday that we are still not in a position to judge the final results, while adding, 'The atmosphere of the sessions is very good, but there is still a distance to reach a solution.' According to Araqchi, after bilateral meetings between Iran and some member countries of the 1+5 group, a meeting of representatives from Iran with all members of this group at the level of deputy foreign ministers will be held on Wednesday, December 17. The previous round of negotiations between Iran and the 1+5 group took place from November 17 to December 3 in Vienna, Austria, at the level of foreign ministers, and the parties could not reach an agreement by December 3, which was the second deadline set for reaching a final agreement. Therefore, despite acknowledging progress in the discussions, the foreign ministers of the 1+5 group announced that more time is needed to reach a comprehensive agreement, and Tehran agreed to extend the negotiations for another seven months. Accordingly, the negotiations were extended for another seven months and seven days so that the parties could reach a political or general agreement in the first four months and document the details of the agreement in the next three months.