WarSclerotic

Netanyahu: Iran wants to take over Mideast – Israel News, Ynetnews.

At Bar-Ilan University, PM says Israel, US see eye-to-eye on need to prevent nuclear Iran. ‘If they want peace, they will agree to dismantle nuke program, he says. Adds: Occupation did not create conflict

Gilad Morag

“Iran’s goal is to take over the entire Middle East and beyond, and destroy the State of Israel. This is not speculation, this is the goal,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday evening.

Speaking at Bar-Ilan University, Netanyahu said that the Iranian nuclear program is not intended for peaceful purposes, adding that Israel and the United States see eye-to-eye on the need to prevent Iran from arming itself with nuclear weapons.

“I do not believe (Iranian) President Hassan Rohani is interested in (nuclear capability) for civilian purposes. We should ask why

they insist on centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium. There is no need for them (in a peaceful nuclear program),” the Israeli leader said.

Netanyahu said the international community should seek a diplomatic solution to the nuclear stand-off, “but only one that will prevent the Iranians from obtaining nuclear weapons.” The PM called on the West not to let up the pressure on Iran and even add economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

“The truth is simple and it cuts through the fog they are trying to spread around here,” he explained. “If they want peace they will agree. If they don’t want peace, they won’t agree. If they dismantle, they’ll receive (an easing of sanctions) – if they don’t, they won’t.”

Addressing the Mideast conflict, the PM said the Palestinians must “recognise Israel as the state of the Jewish people” in order to achieve real peace.

According to Netanyahu, the occupation did not create the conflict. “For me it started in 1921, the day the Arabs attacked Beit Haolim in Jaffa.”

Beit Haolim housed new Jewish immigrants. Several Jews were murdered in the attack, including famed writer Yosef Haim Brenner.

“My own grandfather had arrived at Jaffa, to the same house, one year earlier,” said Netanyahu. “This attack was not against territories or settlements,” he noted. “It was against the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel.”

The Israeli premier also criticized Iran for what he said were its attempts to make cynical use of the Holocaust.

Netanyahu noted that he recently heard Iran’s representative “muttering half heartedly” about the crimes of the Nazis, and then going on immediately to say that the Jews must not be allowed to use the Nazi issue in order to commit crimes against the Palestinians.

The historical truth is the opposite of this presentation, the PM said.

The PM then began quoting numerous historical sources he claimed proved that the mufti of Jerusalem was “one of the initiators of the Holocaust of the Jews of Europe” and that he was constantly encouraging the Nazi leadership to annihilate the Jews, throughout the war. He cited evidence that the mufti even visited the gas chambers at Auschwitz with Adolf Eichmann.

“The mufti is still a greatly admired figure in the Palestinian national movement,” said Netanyahu. “These are the weeds that need to be uprooted,” he said. “The root of the conflict is the deep resistance among a hard core of Palestinians to the right of the Jewish people to its own state in Israel.”

Iran FM says Israel seeking to ‘deceive’ world to avert nuclear deal | JPost | Israel News.0/06/2013 19:40

Zarif to CNN: “Audacious” for Israel to refuse to sign NPT.

Iran: The facts are clear, what they mean is something else – Diplomacy and Defense Israel News | Haaretz.

Whether it’s six months, nine months or a year, it’s clear that the West doesn’t have much time left to stop Iran.

Obama and Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House, September, 30, 2013. Photo by AP

The declaration by U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday that Iran is more than a year away from building a nuclear bomb reflects a disagreement between Washington and Jerusalem over interpretation, not facts.

Obama was responding to a question from Julie Pace of the Associated Press in an interview: “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that Iran is about six months away from being able to produce a nuclear weapon. You said in March, before your trip to Israel, that you thought Iran was a year or more away. What’s the U.S. intelligence assessment at this point on that timetable?”

In fact, aides to Netanyahu said last night they did not remember the prime minister making such a statement last week, neither at the United Nations nor in his interviews with American media outlets.

In any event, the differing assessments are not necessarily based on substantially different intelligence. Israel and the United States share intelligence regularly, especially with regard to Iran’s nuclear program. The recent statements by Netanyahu and by Obama reside in the very fluid area between intelligence, policy and propaganda. In recent years, as Obama himself told Pace, Washington’s estimate of Iran’s timetable is “probably more conservative” than Israel’s.

Pace’s question referred to the earliest date that Iran could possibly produce an operational nuclear bomb that could be carried by a surface-to-surface missile, not just a nuclear device for the purposes of demonstration. Obama was not specific in his response, but it can be assumed from Pace’s question that he was referring to an actual nuclear warhead.

Netanyahu noted during his U.S. trip that Iran had not crossed his “red line” from last year’s UN speech a year – what was explained later as the accumulation of 250 kilograms of 20 percent-enriched uranium. Iran has about 190 kilograms now. But its installation of even faster centrifuges has shortened the distance to the goal of a bomb.

The fear in Israel, which Netanyahu noted in his speech last week, is that with the aid of these faster centrifuges Iran could cover the home stretch to bomb-making capability within weeks or months without being detected, due to incomplete international monitoring, and could then present the international community with a fait accompli.

It seems the Americans do not see eye-to-eye with Netanyahu on this. David Albright, founder of the Institute for Science and International Security, testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Iran could produce a nuclear weapon by mid-2014.

Whether the time frame is six months, nine months or a year, it’s clear the West doesn’t have much time left to stop Iran. (Russia and China are less concerned by the prospect of an Iranian nuclear bomb.) The talks between the major powers and Tehran scheduled for next week will be one of the last opportunities to reach a compromise.

The United States, Britain, France and Germany may intend to consult with Israel over the formula of any compromise, but their demands are expected to be lower than Netanyahu’s in some areas. Nor will they give Israel veto power. While the West still takes Netanyahu’s warning about a military strike on Iran seriously, it also recognizes that he will have a hard time carrying it out, in defiance of Obama and against the advice of the Israeli security establishment, if a deal is reached – even one that is less than ideal from Israel’s perspective.

Since the window of opportunity for a military strike will not reopen until the spring, Israel is focusing now on encouraging the West to raise its demands on Iran and not ease sanctions. Israel even wants Congress to impose harsher sanctions to pressure Tehran during the critical stage of the international talks.

Undersecretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, the lead U.S. negotiator with Iran, asked Congress on Thursday not to impose additional sanctions as long as negotiations continue.

Approval for 2-Hour Train Route to Eilat – Inside Israel – News – Israel National News.

( Yay!  {I’ll believe it when it happens…} – JW )

Train in Israel

Flash 90

A ministerial committee has given its approval to the planned route of a train from Tel Aviv to Eilat. The new train line is expected to revolutionize travel between Israel’s southernmost city and the center of the country with a travel time of just two hours.

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz said the line should be complete within five years of its authorization. It will constitute a significant step toward the government’s goal of connecting Israel’s “periphery” – the north and south of the country – with the more heavily populated central regions.

Five ministers voted for the plan, while one – Environmental Protect Minister Amir Peretz – voted against. Environmental protection activists have warned that the planned route will run through wildlife reservations and hiking trails.

The approved route was chosen after consultation regarding its expected environmental impact. Planners hope to mitigate the train’s environmental effects to some extent using tunnels and bridges.

The new track will span 260 kilometers (161.5 miles) between Be’er Sheva and Eilat. Trains will be able to travel at speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour (155 mph) during the journey.

Some of the construction will involve improving old stretches of track, while in other places new lines will need to be added.

Katz noted that the new track would be used for cargo as well as passenger trains, and could help to speed the delivery of goods between southeast Asia and western Europe.

PM: Iran Sanctions ‘a Moment Away’ from Success – Middle East – News – Israel National News.

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Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday said sanctions on Iran are close to “achieving their goal” of dismantling Tehran’s nuclear enrichment capability and should not be relaxed.

“The sanctions on Iran are working. They are very strong; they are a moment away from achieving their goal,” he said ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting.

“The sanctions must not be eased before reaching the goal of dismantling Iran’s enrichment capability — the ability to produce nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu met US President Barack Obama last week at the White House for talks over Iran’s contested nuclear program, and then delivered an uncompromising speech on the topic at the United Nations General Assembly.

“We do not oppose diplomatic negotiations with Iran,” Netanyahu said in reference to the US invitation to Iran to engage in dialogue with the Islamic Republic. “We insist that these negotiations lead to the dismantling of Iran’s enrichment capability.”

“Iran claims that it wants this for peaceful nuclear energy purposes,” said Netanyahu.

“Seventeen countries produce nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without even one centrifuge… and without enrichment, because enrichment is a main process in producing fissionable material for nuclear bombs.”

The next round of talks with the so-called P5 +1 – the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany – is scheduled to take place in Geneva on October 15 and 16.

But Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday that previous offers by the P5+1 group on Iran’s nuclear program were no longer valid and that “a new approach was needed.”

Those proposals required Iran to suspend enrichment of uranium to the 20 percent level it says it needs for a medical research reactor and halt enrichment at its underground plant at Fordo near the central city of Qom.

The US and its allies suspect Iran of striving to develop nuclear arms under the cover of its civilian nuclear program, a charge Tehran vehemently denies.

Jerusalem denies Israel and US disagree on Iran bomb timeline | The Times of Israel.

Sources say Israel’s estimate that puts Iran months away from nuclear capability refers to completion of enrichment, not building of bomb

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, September 30, 2013. (Photo credit: Kobi Gideon/GPO/Flash90)

Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem denied Saturday night that there was a major disagreement between Israel and the US on how advanced Iran’s nuclear program is, following a statement by US President Barack Obama that Tehran was still a year away from being able to build a nuclear bomb.

The sources, cited by Israel Radio, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sees eye to eye with Obama on the nuclear issue, and Israel’s estimate that Iran is further along referred to the time needed to complete uranium enrichment, not build a nuclear bomb.

Earlier Saturday, Obama said US intelligence assessments show Iran is still “a year or more away” from building a nuclear weapon.

The US president’s comments seemed to put him at odds with Israeli officials, who claimed that Iran is just months away from being able to build a bomb.

In the interview with the Associated Press, published Saturday, Obama acknowledged that American estimates are “more conservative” than those of the Israelis.

According to Israel Radio, the sources said should Iran choose to, it may finalize uranium enrichment within a matter of weeks.

However, officials in both Israel and the US acknowledge that building a bomb from the enriched uranium would still take a year.

Obama’s statement may have been designed to calm fears that the US is beginning a process of negotiations with Iran while enrichment is still going on.

Netanyahu and other Israeli official have expressed wariness over the recent diplomatic push between Iran and the US.

The sources, however, told Israel Radio that Netanyahu would not rule out negotiations with Tehran, though he would insist that any diplomatic effort should result in Iran’s immediate halting of all uranium enrichment.

Netanyahu told National Public Radio on Thursday that he would “consider” meeting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Netanyahu said he would question Rouhani on Tehran’s nuclear program.

“I don’t care about the meeting. I don’t have a problem with the diplomatic process,” Netanyahu told NPR’s Steve Inskeep.

“I haven’t been offered. If I’m offered, I’d consider it, but it’s not an issue,” he clarified. “If I meet with these people I’d stick this question in their face: Are you prepared to dismantle your program completely? Because you can’t stay with the [nuclear] enrichment.”

He also called Rouhani, considered a relative moderate, the “least bad” candidate of those who were allowed to run in Iran’s June presidential elections.

Netanyahu told NPR that Iran’s overtures toward a deal with the West to curb its uranium enrichment were “hogwash,” but said he would be “delighted” by a “real” deal.

Raphael Ahren and Joshua Davidovich contributed to this report

Rouhani, on Iranian TV in May, detailed how he broke nuclear pledge | The Times of Israel.

Candidate’s interview from just before his election gets fresh attention as West seeks to judge Iran’s credibility ahead of new negotiations

Rouhani, who was being interviewed by Iran’s state IRIB TV (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) on May 27, less than three weeks before he won the June 14 presidential elections, was provoked by the interviewer’s assertion that, as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator in 2003-5, “everything was suspended” on the nuclear program under his watch.

Smiling but evidently highly irritated by the suggestion, Rouhani called it “a lie” that only “the illiterate” would believe, and said that “whoever is talking to you in your earpiece” was feeding false information. He proceeded to detail how Iran, in fact, had flagrantly breached the October 2003 “Tehran Declaration,” which he said “was supposed to outline how everything should be suspended.”

Although Iran issued a joint statement with visiting EU ministers in October 2003 setting out its pledged obligations under the Tehran Declaration, in practice, Rouhani said in the interview, “We did not let that happen!”

The interview, conducted by Hassan Abedini, was one in a series of shows in which the presidential candidates were questioned by the widely watched channel. The TV station is closely controlled by loyalists of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Rouhani clearly felt the imperative to underline that he was no Western pushover.

Far from honoring the commitment, in which Iran said “it has decided voluntarily to suspend all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities,” Rouhani told the interviewer that all Iran did was merely suspend “ten centrifuges” in the Natanz enrichment facility. “And not a total suspension. Just reduced the yield.”

Unimpressed, interviewer Abedini asserted that work had been suspended at the UCF — the Uranium Enrichment Facility at Isfahan. Quite the contrary, Rouhani countered, detailing the completion of various phases of work at Isfahan under his watch in 2004 and 2005. He went on to state proudly that the Iranian heavy water reactor at Arak was also developed under his watch, in 2004.

“Do you know when we developed yellowcake? Winter 2004,” Rouhani went on. “Do you know when the number of centrifuges reached 3,000? Winter 2004.”

Incredulous at the notion that Iran had bowed to international pressure and halted nuclear activities in that period, Rouhani asked the interviewer, “We halted the nuclear program? We were the ones to complete it! We completed the technology.”

He clarified that this was not his solo success, but was rather thanks to the work of “our valuable nuclear scientists. Our beloved ones. We kiss their hands.” But he stressed, “We were the first to initiate this. By ‘we,’ I mean the whole government, not Hassan Rouhani. By we, I mean the supreme leader. We were all hand in hand. That is why the supreme leader in his speech of November 11, 2003, said that in those negotiations, the conspiracy of Washington and Israel was shattered.”

Iran had taken “the correct stance [in the nuclear talks], without submission and coercion,” he said.

Rouhani then again attacked the interviewer, and “the guy who talks into your earpiece” for allegedly misleading viewers, to which Abedini replied: “I have read your book from cover to cover, twice.”

“Good job,” retorted Rouhani. “Then read it for a third time, Mr. Abedini. This is how we completed the nuclear enrichment program.”

In his speech to the UN General Assembly last week, and in a succession of other statements and inteviews, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has alleged that Rouhani, in his current outreach to the West, is misleading it by professing a willingness to negotiate over the nuclear program. Netanyahu warned the international community not to be “fooled” by Rouhani as it enters new diplomatic negotiations set to start next week.

As Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator between 2003 and 2005, Netanyahu said at the UN, Rouhani “masterminded the strategy which enabled Iran to advance its nuclear weapons program behind a smokescreen of diplomatic engagement and very soothing rhetoric.” 

Netanyahu then quoted from Rouhani’s 2011 book, in which he wrote, “‘While we were talking to the Europeans in Tehran, we were installing equipment in Isfahan.’ Now, for those of you who don’t know,” Netanyahu explained, “the Isfahan facility is an indispensable part of Iran’s nuclear weapons program. That’s where uranium ore called yellowcake is converted into an enrichable form. Rouhani boasted, and I quote, ‘By creating a calm environment — a calm environment — we were able to complete the work in Isfahan.’ He fooled the world once. Now he thinks he can fool it again.”

In Rouhani’s address to the UN, on September 24, the president said “Iran poses absolutely no threat to the world or the region,” and offered “to engage immediately in time-bound and result-oriented talks” over the nuclear program, “to build mutual confidence and removal of mutual uncertainties with full transparency.” At the same time, he warned, “Nuclear knowledge in Iran has been domesticated now and the nuclear technology, inclusive of enrichment, has already reached industrial scale. It is, therefore, an illusion, and extremely unrealistic, to presume that the peaceful nature of the nuclear program of Iran could be ensured through impeding the program via illegitimate pressures.”

Urging halt to Iran nuke program, Netanyahu signals discord with Obama | The Times of Israel.

Speaking at weekly cabinet meeting, PM insists Tehran must not maintain any enrichment capacity; US would allow peaceful program

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, September 30, 2013. (Photo credit: Kobi Gideon/GPO/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Sunday for Iran to be kept from having any capability to enrich uranium, reiterating an Israeli demand that could put him on a collision course with US efforts to engage Tehran diplomatically.

The statement, before a weekly cabinet meeting, came a day after the Prime Minister’s Office attempted to paint the US and Israel on the same page regarding Iran, after US President Barack Obama said the US estimate on a timeline for Iran to get a bomb was more conservative than Israel’s.

“Iran — which has violated all understandings and misled time and time again, which has declared its intention to destroy the State of Israel and, of course, has violated other decisions as well, and which leads terrorism on five continents — must not be allowed to have an enrichment capability,” Netanyahu declared. “This is the most important point.”

The US and other world powers engaged in talks with Tehran over its nuclear program have signaled that they would accept some enrichment for civilian purposes as long as it was under international supervision. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, a claim Israel and much of the West have rejected.

Shortly after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s trip to New York in September, during which he met with Western diplomats on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, US Secretary of State John Kerry indicated that Iran could potentially preserve its enrichment capability for a peaceful program.

“If it is a peaceful program, and we can all see that, the whole world sees that, the relationship with Iran can change dramatically for the better and it can change fast,” Kerry told CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

In Sunday’s meeting, Netanyahu was clear in his position that sanctions must remain in full force until Iran is prevented from attaining nuclear weapons. “The sanctions on Iran are working,” he said. “They are very strong; they are a moment away from achieving their goal. The sanctions must not be eased before the goal of dismantling Iran’s enrichment capability, in effect, the ability to produce nuclear weapons, is achieved.”

The US has vowed to keep sanctions in place until it sees action from the Iranian side, while Tehran has called for sanctions relief as a starting measure.

On Saturday, daylight seemed to open between Washington and Jerusalem over the pace of Iran’s nuclear program, though sources in Jerusalem attempted to downplay the discord.

Obama, in a wide-ranging interview with the Associated Press on Saturday, disclosed that US intelligence agencies believe Iran continues to be a year or more away from having the capability to make a nuclear weapon. Israel contends that Tehran is on a faster course and could be just months away from breakout capacity.

An official in Netanyahu’s office said Saturday night that Obama and Netanyahu “see eye to eye on the need to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.”

“The critical time that the prime minister refers to is not the time for completing production of a nuclear bomb but rather the time needed for Iran to complete enriching uranium, which is the most important component in preparing a nuclear weapon,” he said regarding the time frame issue.

“If Iran decides to complete enriching uranium it can do so within a few weeks of the start day,” he said on condition of anonymity, because he is not allowed to discuss the issue with the media.

Israel views a nuclear-armed Iran as a threat to its very existence, citing Iran’s repeated calls for Israel’s destruction, its long-range missile program and its support for violent anti-Israel groups like the Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran insists that its nuclear program is for civilian use.

“There is no reason why Iran, which claims it wants nuclear energy just for peaceful purposes, should maintain the ability to enrich uranium, which allows for the development of material necessary for building a bomb,” the Israeli official said.

Rouhani recently delivered a conciliatory speech at the United Nations in which he said Iran had no intention of building a nuclear weapon and declared his readiness for new negotiations with world powers.

At the end of the visit, Rouhani and Obama held a 15-minute phone call as the Iranian leader was traveling to the airport. It was the first conversation between the nations’ leaders in 34 years and raised hopes that a breakthrough on the nuclear issue could portend ties between the United States and Iran.

Netanyahu has greeted Rouhani’s outreach with deep skepticism, expressing fears that Iran will use upcoming nuclear talks as a ploy to get the world to ease painful economic sanctions while secretly pressing forward with its nuclear program.

On Friday, Netanyahu returned from the United States, where Iran was the main topic in talks with Obama and his address at the United Nations.

via Intelligence dispute continues – Israel Opinion, Ynetnews.

Analysis: US, Israeli intelligence agencies in disagreement over which track Iran is pursuing on way to nuclear bomb

The differences in the assessments of Israeli and American intelligence agencies regarding Iran’s nuclear program mainly stem from the question of when Iran will succeed in building a basic atomic bomb and how much time it will take Iran’s scientists and engineers to place a nuclear warhead atop a ballistic missile.

Building a reliable nuclear weapon requires efforts in three separate tracks: The first, enriching uranium to 90% purity level. Fissile material can also be produced from plutonium that is made from fuel rods used in heavy water reactors. The Iranians are pursuing this track, but it will take them some two years to create fissile material. However, by continuing to enrich uranium the Iranians will be able to produce fissile material by the end of the year.

The second track is the construction of a prototype of an atomic bomb. The problem is that such a bomb, in its most basic form, is very large and cannot be placed atop a ballistic missile or even attached to the wing of a fighter jet. Dropping the bomb on the enemy requires a strategic bomber that only the US, Russia and Britain currently have – or, alternately, a container that can be smuggled aboard a ship. But in order for a country to possess the complete military nuclear capability Iran seeks, it must be able to reduce the size of the bomb so it will be able to fit into the warhead of a ballistic missile with a diameter of a little more than one meter. The third track, therefore, is the reduction in size of the bomb.

There is no argument between Israel and the US regarding Iran’s ability to produce fissile material for a bomb by the end of this year, or by February 2014 at the latest. President Obama’s estimation that Iran will be able to build a nuclear weapon only in a “year or more” is based on the American intelligence assessment that it will take the Islamic Republic at least another year to build a basic prototype of a nuclear bomb and reduce its size so it will fit into a missile.

Israeli experts consider this assessment to be a bit far-fetched for the simple reason that the production of a basic atomic bomb and reducing its size is a process that is more difficult to monitor than uranium enrichment, which is conducted in huge plants the size of several soccer fields and is supervised by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency. IAEA inspectors have been denied access to sites where Iran is suspected to be carrying out experiments related to the development of nuclear bombs. These sites are relatively small and easy to conceal, as are the sites where Iran is developing nuclear warheads.

The Iranians are denying access to these sites for fear that the inspectors will find radioactive material that is still traceable and facilities in which controlled-detonations are being carried out.

It is safe to assume that Israeli intelligence officials are telling their American counterparts: “Both you and we do not know how far along Iran is in the development of a bomb and if they have already managed to miniaturize it. According to testimonies revealed in some WikiLeaks documents, Iranian scientists received computer programs to design a nuclear warhead for a missile based on the Chinese model and that intensive work has also been conducted to design an atomic bomb, but we mustn’t assume that what we know for certain makes up the entire picture. It is very possible that the Iranian nuclear program has advanced much further and that as soon as they have 28 kilos of fissile material they will already have the capability to build a basic bomb and place it inside the warhead of a ballistic missile.”

Iran: World powers must present new approach before nuclear talks | JPost | Israel News.

Iranian FM says previous P5+1 plan – to stop enrichment of uranium to 20 percent – “belongs to history”; Zarif: West should deal seriously with Iran’s nuclear issue by changing its views.

DUBAI – World powers negotiating with Tehran over its disputed nuclear program must come up with new proposals before talks in Geneva on October 15-16, Iran’s foreign minister said.

“The previous P5+1 plan given to Iran belongs to history and they must enter talks with a new point of view,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview with Iranian state television late on Saturday.

“The players must put away this illusion that they can impose anything on the Iranian people.”

The United States wants Iran to respond to proposals by world powers in February as a starting point for talks. If the parties cannot agree on how to start the negotiations, it casts doubt on whether a resolution can be agreed within the six months in which Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says he wants a deal.

Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – plus Germany, the so-called P5+1, said in February they want Iran to stop enrichment of uranium to 20 percent, ship out some stockpiles and shutter a facility where such enrichment is done.

In return, they offered relaxation of international sanctions on Iran’s petrochemicals and trade in gold and other precious metals.

US officials said last week Secretary of State John Kerry had secured agreement from his Chinese counterpart calling for Iran to respond positively to existing nuclear proposals by the six powers.

According to Zarif, “Iranian people have completely lost their confidence in the West,” he added that the coming nuclear talks “could be a good start” for reversing that sentiment, ISNA cited the minister as saying.

“The West should deal seriously with the Iranian nuclear issue and that requires it to change its views,” Zarif added.

The election of Rouhani in June and his appointment of US-educated Zarif as foreign minister and chief nuclear negotiator have raised hopes for a solution to the decade-old dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.

Western powers believe Iranian enrichment activities are aimed at achieving nuclear weapons capability, whereas Iran insists its program is purely for civilian purposes – generating electricity and for a medical research reactor.

“RACE AGAINST TIME”

Each side wants the other to make the first move.

“There is a new tone (in Iran), we want it to be sincere but we need to see deeds,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told Europe 1 radio on Sunday.

But, he said, there was limited time to resolve the dispute while maintaining the Western goal of ensuring Iran is not able to make nuclear arms. That was because the heavy water reactor in Arak, in western Iran would be able to produce plutonium.

“If it were completed we wouldn’t be able to destroy it because if you bomb plutonium it will leak. This means it’s a race against time,” he said.

Asked how much time he thought there was, Fabius said; “People say roughly a year … We hope there will be a negotiation, but we must act quickly.”

Rouhani and Zarif tried to dispel mistrust with meetings, speeches and interviews at the UN General Assembly in New York last month, was capped with a phone call between the Iranian president and US President Barack Obama.

Both presidents face opposition at home from conservatives who fear they may be too willing to grant concessions before the other side takes tangible steps.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on the nuclear issue, said on Saturday he supported Rouhani’s diplomatic opening with the United States.

But he said some aspects of it were “not proper”. Khamenei did not elaborate on his objections, but it was a possible reference to the phone conversation between Rouhani and Obama.

The supreme leader also said he did not trust the United States as a negotiating partner, a sentiment echoed by Zarif.

“Just as the supreme leader said, we do not trust them, and they must build the trust of the Iranian people towards them in public and private discussions,” Zarif said.