Ashton: If Iran nuclear issue can be resolved diplomatically we will do it

If a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue can be achieved, "we will do it," Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said on Monday. Having met last week at the UN General Assembly in New York with Iranian President Hassan Rohani, Ashton said, "I get a sense from him that he seriously does want this to work out." In an appearance at the Woodrow Wilson Center think tank, Ashton said the twin-track approach of diplomacy and pressure through sanctions is the way forward on the Iranian nuclear issue. While saying that she would like to go to the political talks in Geneva with Iran "with the best possible atmosphere," she acknowledged that "it may be that we do not make progress, or that we do." But she said the pressure of sanctions should be kept on Iran during the talks, adding that the sanctions are in place "for a reason." Six political directors who have been given a mandate from their governments will participate in the Geneva talks, she said, and they will be connected to their capitals throughout the process. She said this level of negotiation was "better" than holding such talks at the foreign ministers' level, but that foreign ministers could be brought in "if deemed necessary." She said Iranian officials have indicated that they want to move "really quickly" in Geneva to get a framework in place on an approximately 12-month timetable. The talks should be "level-headed and clear eyed," she said, and held in such a way that "everyone is confident of what we are doing." Turning to Syria, Ashton said that after the Geneva II talks on Syria, a political process needs to be established, and that EU officials have spent much time communicating with the Russians about the need to get a "transitional government moving" in Syria toward the kind of society and democracy that the Syrian people want. While the chemical attack of August 21 in Syria brought home how horrific the situation in Syria is, Ashton spoke at length about the millions of Syrian refugees that have flooded from Syrian into Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and other countries in the region, making life "very difficult for those countries." Syria needs to be "rebuilt" from its "shattered ruins," she said, once the Syrian government is rebuilt. Ashton, who was scheduled to arrive in Egypt on Tuesday to meet with various Egyptian political groups, said leaders in that country know that the future "needs to be an inclusive democracy. "It is their fundamental objective," she said. "We have been actively trying to support a fledgling democracy there," she said, but Egyptians understand that "it takes time." The challenge in Egypt is to move toward a new constitution and new elections linked to a strong economic plan to help the young population, she said.