Iran to offer 3 stage proposal in Geneva nuclear talks

Iran will put forward a three-stage proposal in the upcoming Geneva nuclear talks with the world powers, semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Saturday. The proposal package, if agreed upon at the first stage, will automatically commit the other party to "the recognition of the uranium enrichment right on Iran's soil" as the objective of the negotiations, said ISNA without referring to its information source. The package also encompasses mutual steps in the course of negotiations so that the finality can be reached, said the report. "The Iranian officials believe that, without any agreement on the first stage, the continuation of the negotiations will be very difficult and probably impossible," according to ISNA. The P5+1 group, which includes the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany, will resume talks with Iran on its controversial nuclear program in Geneva on Oct. 15-16. On Friday, Press TV reported that Iran would attend the upcoming nuclear talks in Geneva with new proposals. Media outlets reported on Wednesday that Iran is preparing a package of proposals to halt production of 20 percent enriched uranium, a key demand of the U.S. and other global powers. The Wall Street Journal reported that the package includes " limits on the numbers of centrifuges operating, enrichment amounts and the need for verification." Tehran in return will request that the United States and European Union begin scaling back sanctions, said the report. On the day, sources close to the Iranian nuclear negotiating team said Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif will be present in the negotiations only if other parties are represented by their foreign ministers, according to Press TV. In case the meeting is not held at the foreign ministers level, the deputy of Iran's foreign minister for legal and international affairs, Abbas Araqchi, will lead Iran's negotiating team, semi- official Mehr news agency reported on Friday. On Saturday, senior Iranian lawmaker Esmail Kowsari reiterated Iran's official stance that the right to uranium enrichment inside Iran is non-negotiable in the upcoming nuclear discussions with world powers. Iran's Majlis (parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani said that the forthcoming negotiations between Iran and six major world powers on the country's nuclear program should aim to build trust in order to yield results, Press TV reported on Saturday. "The negotiations will lead to positive results if they are aimed at building confidence based on international regulations," Larijani was quoted as saying in Tehran on Friday upon his arrival from a tour to three European countries. The Iranian speaker expressed hope that the P5+1 group, which includes the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany, would show "seriousness and wisdom" in the upcoming nuclear talks with Iran. He asked them to abide by international regulations and pursue the negotiations within a "specific framework." Besides, the Iranian political analyst, Sadeq Zibakalam, said the upcoming nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 in Geneva will likely yield "promising results" as the time is ripe for finding a way to resolve Iran's nuclear issue, the official IRNA news agency reported. Zibakalam, also a professor at the University of Tehran, told IRNA that if the Geneva talks lead to breaking the nuclear stalemate, it would be regarded as a big success for Iran.