GENEVA - The second day of nuclear talks in Geneva ended Thursday night in a dead-end atmosphere, mainly due to the statements of the Iranian delegation.

While the representatives of the six powers participating in the talks refrained from putting out any statements or briefing reporters, the Iranian diplomats kept up an incessant stream of quotes throughout the day in which they insisted that the interim agreement due to be signed in Geneva must include a written recognition of their right to enrich uranium and an easing of the main sanctions on Iranian oil trade and banking.

Unlike the atmosphere of optimism that surrounded the first day of the third of talks on Wednesday, Thursday's negotiations took on the feeling of standstill.

The only talks held during the day were between the Iranian delegation headed by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton who met three times. No other bilateral talks were held on Thursday between the Iranians and the diplomats of the six powers, not even with the American delegation, which has so has far met the Iranians for only one brief meeting on Wednesday night.

None of the powers gave statements regarding the content of the talks throughout the day, nor were any press briefings held.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi delivered the only briefing of the day to the large contingent of Iranian journalists that has arrived in Geneva. That briefing set the tone for the entire day. Araghchi, according to the Iranian reports, said that Iran would "not accept any draft of an agreement that does not mention our right to enrich uranium." He also said that "we will discuss in the first set of talks the sanction on oil and banks." These are the two issues that western powers have refused to concede to the Iranians in the interim agreement, and on which they are prepared only within the framework of a comprehensive agreement in six months.

A source in the Iranian delegation said Thursday that "to wait half a year to end the sanctions on oil and banks is much too long to wait. There must be gradual easing before that."

Iranian sources also assessed that Foreign Minister Zarif's proposal earlier this week to resolve the issue surrounding Tehran's insistence on its right to enrich uranium by not mentioning it in the agreement altogether was no longer relevant, reined in by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's own speech Wednesday maintaining the right to enrich as a "red line."

A third bone of contention between the sides - Iran's determination to continue building the heavy-water reactor at Arak - was not mentioned in the Iranian briefing and it is not clear at this point whether the Iranians still insist on it.

At the InterContinental Hotel in Geneva where the delegations were staying, rooms and security arrangements were still being prepared for the possible arrival of the foreign ministers of the world powers over the weekend to try and push the talks forward or sign the agreement.

None of these governments - U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France or Germany - have so far officially confirmed their ministers will be arriving. The original schedule was for the talks to end Friday, but the prevailing feeling in Geneva is that at least one more day will be needed before an agreement or decision on whether to reconvene can be reached.

Areas of difference

The two main areas of difference that have come to light (mainly according to Iranian sources) in the Geneva talks are Iran’s insistence on receiving written recognition from the international community of its right to enrich uranium and the Iranian demand that the United States and the European Union agree to some easing of the most severe sanctions on the oil trade and banking.



The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) of which Iran is a signatory does not mention the right to enrich uranium, only nations’ right to nuclear development for peaceful reasons. The treaty is open to some interpretation but it’s the job of the International Agency for Atomic Energy (IAEA) as the recognized professional body to assess whether a country is indeed developing a civilian or military nuclear program.



For years IAEA has not accepted Iran’s regarding the true nature of their program. International recognition of Iran’s right to enrich uranium would de-facto ignore IAEA and erode its powers to inspect and enforce any agreement. IAEA is to be a central part of any potential deal with Iran and therefore, despite Iran describing the enrichment issue as a “red-line,” which certainly affects its national pride, there is currently insistence in the west that at least in the interim agreement there will be no mention of the right to enrich.



In return for any concessions it makes in the interim agreement, the Iranians claim that they deserve some reduction of the main sanctions that are crippling Iran’s economy. As of now, the western powers are prepared to free up part of the frozen Iranian assets (the sum of ten billion dollars has been mentioned) and export licenses for medicine and spare parts for airliners.

They are not prepared to accede to the Iranian demands for any easing of the embargo on Iranian oil (the Americans have placed sanctions even on third-party countries buying oil from Iran) and the prohibition of money transfers to a long list of central Iranian banks and companies (including cutting Iran off the SWIFT money transfer system) for main two reasons. First, these sanctions are the main lever of pressure the west has on Iran and they want to keep it for the negotiations on a comprehensive deal. Second, the European Union will need all 28 members to vote on re-imposing the sanctions if Iran does not hold to the deal, what makes removing them almost irreversible.