WarSclerotic

For the third time in just over a month, nuclear talks between the six powers and Iran are set to renew Wednesday in Geneva, and many believe a deal is fast approaching.

Iran, Russia, the United States and the European Union have expressed a desire to return home with a six-month interim deal in hand, what they would see as a diplomatic achievement. Yet, as with the last round of talks, there is still a chance that France will put the brakes on the emerging deal.

“Ultimately, a deal can be reached in 10 minutes,” a senior European source close to the negotiations told Israel Hayom on Tuesday. “The Iranians know exactly what is expected of them and they went home with that [information] for consultation. It’s possible that the Iranians, who really want to sign a deal, will draw out the time and take advantage of the three days dedicated to negotiations,” he added. According to the source, in the event that a deal is reached, Iran will be eager to show the world that it has made a major concession. He further explained that the Islamic republic is seeking to claim a victory on all fronts: to get sanctions lifted, to be perceived as moderate and to maintain the future capability to create a nuclear bomb.

The talks resume Wednesday afternoon, following a joint lunch between EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The delegations will begin negotiations in the early hours of the evening.

Three points insisted upon by the French since the last round of talks have become the six powers’ stance in the talks: Iran must give up its 185 kg (408 pounds) in stores of 20 percent enriched uranium, it must cease construction at the Arak heavy water plant (which gives Iran the capability to reach an atomic bomb using plutonium, as North Korea did), and it must open its nuclear facilities to international inspection.

In return, economic sanctions will be reduced. Sanctions will be put on the table at the end of a six-month period, if and when the final deal will be discussed. Meanwhile, there is consensus in Geneva over Iran’s right to enrich uranium to a low grade — a problematic stance for Jerusalem.

The French delegation will likely further demand that Iran prove its nuclear program has no military designs. Even as Paris remains eager for a deal to eliminate the Israeli military option, the French are comfortable delaying the agreement following the American decision to abandon them in the struggle against the Assad regime in Syria.

Ahead of the renewal of negotiations in Geneva, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Iranian President Hasan Rouhani discussed strengthening ties between their countries. Meanwhile, Iranian media openly accused the French delegation of “serving the Zionist regime.”

Zarif, in a renewed public relations effort, has released A YouTube video asking the world to take advantage of the opportunity to solve the nuclear issue. Explaining the program’s legitimacy, he said “for us Iranians, nuclear energy is not about joining a club or threatening others.

“For us, nuclear energy is about securing the future of our children, about diversifying our economy, about stopping the burning of our oil, and about generating clean power.”

Zarif added that for the deal to pull through, it is imperative to adopt a sense of common destiny, “a conviction that we either win together or lose together.”

Iran’s Jewish community has also been recruited

Zarif, who before arriving at the talks made a stop in Italy, accused Israel of trying to sabotage the talks. “We have reason to be suspicious of every move they make. Every move they make is about spreading tension,” he said.

Meanwhile, a group of Iranian Jews gathered outside a U.N. building in Tehran to express support for the Iranian delegation in Geneva. Jewish Iranian MP Siamak Moreh Sedgh said: “Netanyahu, you have no right to intervene in Iran’s internal affairs.” He added that the gathering was “to show their solidarity with the Islamic republic of Iran’s stances in the recent talks, specially the issues proposed to Group 5+1.”

Students also formed a human chain around the Fordo nuclear facility to show support for what they call a peaceful nuclear program.

On Tuesday in Washington, government officials made efforts to convince Congress not to impose new sanctions on Iran so as to give the nuclear talks a chance for success. U.S. President Barack Obama met with senior senators, both Republican and Democratic, among them members of the foreign relations, armed services and finance committees. Following the meeting, the White House released a statement saying that Obama “made clear that achieving a peaceful resolution that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is profoundly in America’s national security interest.” The statement went on to say that “the initial, 6-month step of the P5+1 proposal would halt progress on the Iranian nuclear program and roll it back in key respects, stopping the advance of the program for the first time in nearly a decade and introducing unprecedented transparency into Iran’s nuclear activities while we negotiate a long-term, comprehensive solution.”

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Obama said: “I don’t know if we’ll be able to close a deal this week or next week.”

Legislators: Toughen the stance

Despite Obama’s explanations, many senators remain unconvinced. Six senators wrote a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, warning the American delegation from taking too generous a stance in the nuclear negotiations.

Among the letter’s signatories, are Democrats Bob Menendez and Chuck Schumer, the former being chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “While the interim agreement may suggest that Iran could be willing temporarily to slow its pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability, it could also allow Iran to continue making some progress toward that end under the cover of negotiations,” said the letter. “This does not give us confidence that Iran is prepared to abandon unambiguously its nuclear weapons pursuit altogether, as it must.”

Republican Senator Bob Corker said changes to sanctions are unlikely to occur before the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 28.