U.S. official says imposing any new sanctions on Iran at this stage would seriously undermine the negotiations.
Delegations
from Iran and other world powers sit before the start of two days of
closed-door nuclear talks at the United Nations offices in Geneva,
October 15, 2013. Photo by Reuters
GENEVA
- A U.S. official said Wednesday in Geneva that the powers want Iran to
halt its nuclear program for six months in exchange for temporary
sanctions relief, as a "first step."
The American official added that imposing any new sanctions on Iran at this stage would seriously undermine the negotiations.
A
fresh round of nuclear talks between Iran and the six world powers –
the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – is due
to begin in Geneva on Thursday.
During
the three weeks since the last round of talks in Geneva, Iranian
experts have been meeting in Vienna with counterparts from the six
powers to discuss the technical aspects of this first step, including
how Iran’s nuclear program will be suspended and which sanctions would
be eased.
At
the same time, U.S. Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman, who heads
the U.S. negotiating team, has been speaking in person and by phone with
officials in Israel and the Persian Gulf states to update them on these
preparatory talks.
The
senior American official, who briefed reporters in Geneva on Wednesday,
noted that as part of the first step framework, the six powers want
Iran to suspend its nuclear operations in a way that will provide time
for negotiating a comprehensive agreement. This phase must involve
levels and scope of Iran's uranium enrichment, its stockpiles of the
material, the capacity of its nuclear facilities, including the number
of centrifuges installed and made operational, as well as international
monitoring, the official said.
“What
we're looking for is a first phase, a first step, an initial
understanding that stops Iran's nuclear program from moving forward and
rolls it back for first time in decades,” the official said. “We're
looking for ways to put additional time on the clock,” so as to
negotiate a permanent agreement that would include all the components of
the Iranian nuclear program, he said.
In
return, he said, the six powers would suggest "very limited, temporary,
reversible sanctions relief,” giving no detail on what those measures
might be. He stressed that the relief would be for only six months, and
if Iran doesn’t meet its first-stage commitments or if there is no
permanent agreement after six months, the economic sanctions would be
re-imposed.
One
of the messages the U.S. official stressed was that Congress should
avoid imposing any additional sanctions on Iran at this time, to allow
the U.S. diplomats to maintain the best possible atmosphere during the
negotiations.
Whoever
believes that a diplomatic solution is the preferred solution must give
the negotiators room to maneuver, he said. Even if there was a 10
percent chance that additional sanctions would scuttle the talks, such
sanctions were to be avoided, he said, since the alternatives to a
diplomatic solution were not that great.
U.S.
President Barak Obama was leaving all options on the table to protect
America’s national security, but everyone knows that the military option
is meant to be a last resort, the official said. An attack wouldn’t put
an end to Iran’s nuclear program, and could have results that are
difficult to foresee.
The
U.S. official said that there were no substantial gaps between the
United States and Israel on the Iranian issue, and that the
disagreements were merely tactical. He also addressed Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks that the anti-American demonstrations in
Tehran earlier this week had exposed “the true face of Iran.” While he
did not enjoy hearing the cries of “Death to America,” he said, it was
the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who had said that one doesn’t make
peace with friends, but with enemies.
The
White House issued a rare public statement Wednesday night indicating
it was seeking a "phased approach" to the Iranian nuclear issue that
would offer Iran "limited and reversible" sanctions relief in exchange
for a halt to further progress in Iran's nuclear program.
“The
P5+1 is engaged in serious and substantive negotiations with Iran that
offer the possibility of a verifiable diplomatic agreement that will
prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," said National Security
Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan. "We are not going to comment on
specifics. In general, the P5+1 is focused on developing a phased
approach that in the first step halts Iran’s nuclear program from moving
forward and potentially rolls back parts of it."
Meehan
added that "The first step would address Iran's most advanced nuclear
activities, increase transparency so Iran will not be able to use the
cover of talks to advance its program, and create time and space as we
negotiate a comprehensive agreement. In exchange for concrete,
verifiable measures to address the P5+1’s concerns during the first
step, the P5+1 would consider limited, targeted, and reversible relief
that doesn't affect our core sanctions architecture. That core sanctions
architecture would be maintained until there is a final, comprehensive,
verifiable agreement that resolves the international community’s
concerns.”
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