WarSclerotic

Iran dictates Khamenei’s “fatwa” as basis for nuclear negotiations. US fails to update Israel on Geneva talks.

Iranian delegate Abbas Araghchi to Geneva nuclear talks

The Iranian negotiators arrived in Geneva Tuesday, Oct. 15, armed with inflexible positions verging on all-or-nothing for the talks with the six powers in Geneva on their country’s nuclear program.

The most important step for an accord, said Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, was for the powers to accept the Supreme Leader’s 2006 fatwa banning the development of nuclear weapons.

debkafile’s Iranian sources note that although President Barack Obama cited this “fatwa,’ it was issued as a propaganda ploy with no binding religious value. The Iranian tactic is to use this “edict” to force the six powers (five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) to bow to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s authority and accord him equal status as the leader of a world power.
The Iranian team started the two-day meeting with a PowerPoint presentation, but then said the details of the proposals presented were “confidential.”
The other delegations agreed to this, although to say they were disappointed is an understatement. They were bowled over by the four Iranian stipulations:

1. The world powers must accept Iran’s right to enrich uranium without limitations. All the enrichment sites at Fordo and Natanz and the Arak heavy water plant under construction for plutonium production will remain in place.
2.  All sanctions on the Iranian economy whether imposed by the UN Security Council, the US or Europe must be removed at once.

3.  Iran guarantees to provide transparency and accept the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) but rejects snap inspections.
4. Khamenei’s “fatwa” is the first step towards an agreement with the world powers.

At the end of the first day of talks, EU foreign policy executive Catherine Ashton, who chairs the Geneva conference, took the Iranian negotiator Araghchi aside and told him to bring to the table more serious proposals.

Up until Tuesday night, the Obama administration had not relayed a single word on the Geneva proceedings to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who was waiting in Jerusalem for a promised update.
His response to Iran’s arrogant intransigence at the Geneva talks and the fact that he was kept in the dark was not long in coming.
Addressing a Knesset session marking the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur war, Tuesday afternoon, the prime minister said: One lesson Israel learned from the Yom Kippur war was “never disallow the option of a preemptive strike a priori.” While this option may not meet all situations, it deserves careful and earnest consideration.
Netanyahu went on to say: The potential international reaction to such an attack is of less consequence than the price in blood Israel is apt to pay from a future “strategic blow” and the necessity to hit back.

US and Iran hold bilateral meeting in Geneva | The Times of Israel.

US State Department official describes the one-hour conference as ‘useful’; Obama administration doesn’t expect overnight breakthrough

Delegates from the P5+1 and Iran meet in Geneva, at the start of two days of talks regarding Tehran’s nuclear program, Tuesday, October 15, 2013 (photo credit: AP/Fabrice Coffrini)

Deputy US Secretary of State Wendy Sherman held a meeting Tuesday with her Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines of nuclear negotiations between the P5+1 and Iran in Geneva, a State Department official confirmed Tuesday.

The meeting lasted for approximately one hour, according to Israel Radio, and was scheduled in advance amid the recent diplomatic rapprochement between the two nations.

The US official described the talks as “useful,” but did not offer any details regarding the topics covered.

“As had been expected, Under Secretary Sherman and members of the US delegation held a bilateral meeting with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Araghchi and members of the Iranian delegation tonight, as the Iranians are doing with a number of delegations during these talks,” the senior State Department official was quoted as saying by the Al-Monitor news agency.

“The discussion was useful, and we look forward to continuing our discussions in tomorrow’s meetings with the full P5+1 and Iran,” he said.

A spokesman for the Iranian delegation told Israel Radio that P5+1 representatives were very impressed with Iran’s presentation earlier in the day, and that “no was speaking about war anymore except for Israel.”

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters in Washington, “After day one, we are hopeful that we will make progress in Geneva.” However US officials wanted to make clear that “despite the positive signs that we have seen, no one should expect a breakthrough overnight. These are very complicated issues, in some cases very technical issues,” Carney said, according to the Kuwait News Agency.

In a separate briefing, State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki said, “It certainly is positive that there was enough information to have technical discussions. Those are ongoing, and I suspect we will have more of a readout tomorrow.”

She added, “The issues are very complicated — and we have always said, and it remains the case today, that the Iranians need to follow their language and their words with substantive actions, and that is what the discussion is about right now,” reported KUNA.

Iran sat down with representatives of six world powers on Tuesday, presenting a proposal on how to end a nuclear standoff amid cautious optimism over a possible diplomatic solution.

The Iranian delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Javid Zarif, gave a PowerPoint presentation of its proposal to end the crisis, EU spokesman Michael Mann said from Geneva on Tuesday morning.

Mann added that the atmosphere in the talks, the first since the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, was different from that of the past.

“In previous rounds we did not see significant engagement from Iran,” he said.

The talks are being seen as a key test of Iran’s overtures to the West. The P5+1, comprised of the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, is eager to see whether Iran’s new style since Rouhani’s election will translate into progress on dispelling concerns over Tehran developing nuclear weapons.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Déjà vu on Iran? | JPost | Israel News.

After Iran presented a PowerPoint presentation in Geneva, outlining a plan for the future of it’s nuclear program, Iranian deputy foreign minister said it is “too soon” to tell if progress had been made. Only time will tell.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton (L) speaks with Iranian Foreign Minister Photo: Reuters