Iran: Enrichment right no issue for talks

Iran on Tuesday reiterated its readiness to continue negotiations with the world powers, including the US, on the country's civilian nuclear program, but meantime, strongly underlined that its right of uranium enrichment is not subject to any deal or compromise. "For us, the end point of the negotiations is (the materialization of) the nation's nuclear rights, including enrichment, and from our point of view, no negotiation on the enrichment right is acceptable ," Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham told reporters in Tehran on Tuesday. "The right of enrichment is not negotiable at all," she added. Stressing Tehran's preparedness to cooperate with the international community to clarify possible ambiguities around its peaceful nuclear program, Afkham said, "We have announced that we will show full transparency and obviate the other sides' logical concerns based on the international rules and regulations and the safeguards which exist on this path and this framework is the criteria and first step for negotiations." She expressed the hope that the two sides could reach this framework in the upcoming Geneva talks. The foreign ministers of Iran and the six world powers said Thursday they were pleased with their New York discussions over the settlement of the Iran-West nuclear standoff, adding that they have set a new round of negotiations for October in Geneva. The top diplomats of the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) described their meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly as "a change in tone". European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who chaired the meeting, told reporters it had been "a substantial meeting. Good atmosphere. Energetic." She said the two sides had agreed on an "ambitious timetable" to address Western concerns about Iran's nuclear program and would meet again in Geneva on October 15-16 "to pursue the agenda to carry on from today's meeting and to hopefully move this process forward." Ashton also added a note of caution, saying it was important to focus on "effective work that we do on the ground." After a group meeting and then a one-on-one session between Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry, the US top diplomat called the talks "constructive" and said he was struck by a "very different tone" from Iran. "We've agreed to try to continue a process that would try to make concrete and find a way to answer the questions that people have about Iran's nuclear program," Kerry said. "Needless to say, one meeting and a change in tone, that was welcome, does not answer those questions." "All of us were pleased that the foreign minister came today and that he did put some possibilities on the table,'' Kerry said. Speaking after Kerry, Zarif said the meetings had been "very constructive" and "very businesslike." "We hope to be able to make progress to solve this issue in a timely fashion (and) to make sure (there is) no concern that Iran's program is anything but peaceful," he said. "I am satisfied with this first step," Zarif said. "Now we have to see whether we can match our positive words with serious deeds so we can move forward." He said the result would have to include "a total lifting" of the international sanctions imposed on Iran. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's pronouncements at the UN have raised hopes that progress could be possible, but they have also served as a reminder that the path to that progress will not be quick or easy. In his speech to world leaders at the UN last Tuesday, he repeated Iran's long-standing demand that any nuclear agreement must recognize the country's right under international treaties to continue enriching uranium, and underlined the need for a win-win game.