• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

'Substantial' Iran Nuclear Talks Under Way

by Al Pessin November 21, 2013

The European Union spokesman says the second day of a key round of talks on Iran's nuclear program opened with a "substantial" negotiating session and top officials "getting down to detailed work."

EU spokesman Michael Mann tweeted what little is known about what is happening in the negotiating room, where the Union's foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton and Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are leading the delegations. He said they will meet again later in the day.

​​After Wednesday's initial session, Mann said officials were determined to bridge the gaps that prevented agreement at the last round of talks 10-days-ago, but no one is guaranteeing success.

"Everybody knows what the main issues are here, for example the level of enrichment of uranium in Iran, that is clearly currently at a level which is not required if you're only interested in a peaceful nuclear program. So, therefore there are certain things that Iran has to do," Mann said.

That is a key issue, as Iran insists on a "right" to enrich uranium. The six-nation contact group says there is no such right, although many countries do so for peaceful purposes and Iran could do the same if its program verifiably meets that criteria.

​​French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said as much in an interview on France 2 television Thursday.

Fabius said Iran has the perfect right to peaceful nuclear power, but not to build a nuclear weapon, and that all six nations in the international team agree.

Iran says it has no intention of building a nuclear bomb, but it has built a huge enrichment capability and has a substantial stockpile of highly enriched uranium, close to the level that can be used to fuel a weapon.

How to define, limit and verify Iran's nuclear program is a key issue in these talks, now in their third round with the new, relatively moderate, Iranian government.

The other side of the equation is how much relief from economic sanctions the international community will provide during a first phase.

The plan is to build confidence with initial steps, and negotiate a broader accord within six months, but officials and expert say that will be even more difficult than these initial talks have been.