US: First day of P5 1 talks with Iran hopeful, positive

The White House press secretary Jay Carney on Tuesday welcomed the talks with Iran in Geneva as "hopeful," while the State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said they were "positive." The P5+1 (the permanent five members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) are seeking an agreement "that ultimately resolves all of the international community's concerns about Iran's nuclear program, and while we negotiate, we will continue to keep up the economic pressure on Iran, which has brought about the occasion for at least the prospect of making progress," Carney said in a briefing. "After day one, we are hopeful that we will make progress in Geneva," Carney noted. U.S. officials want to make clear that "despite the positive signs that we have seen, no one should expect a breakthrough overnight. These are very complicated issues, in some cases very technical issues," he affirmed. President Barack Obama has said that "the mistrust here is very deep, but we hope for progress in Geneva, and although we appreciate the recent change in tone from the Iranian government on this issue, we will be looking for specific steps that address core issues, such as the pace and scope of its enrichment program, the transparency of its overall nuclear program and its stockpiles of enrichment," Carney added. In a separate briefing, Psaki said of the first day of the Geneva talks: "It certainly is positive that there was enough information to have technical discussions. Those are ongoing, and I suspect we will have more of a readout tomorrow." "No one expected nor do we still expect a breakthrough overnight," she pointed out. "The issues are very complicated. -- and we have always said, and it remains the case today, that the Iranians need to follow their language and their words with substantive actions, and that is what the discussion is about right now," Psaki added.