LATEST: Prison Sentence of Top Analyst Zibakalam Reduced to a Fine
FRIDAY FEATURES
Exclusive: “Hopeful” Tehran Considers A New Nuclear Proposal from 5+1 Powers
Analysis: 9 Questions and Answers About the Vienna Nuclear Talks
UPDATE 1500 GMT: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said he will continue talks in Vienna, only hours after he said he was going to Iran for high-level consultations.
An Iranian source told the Islamic Republic’s news agency that the discussions with the 5+1 Powers “have not reached a stage that requires Zarif to return to Tehran”.
Zarif met again with US Secretary of State John Kerry and the European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, following their initial talks on Thursday night.
Kerry also spoke by telephone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, with the two agreeing that additional efforts would be needed to reach an agreement by Monday’s deadline, according to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry.
There was still no indication that Lavrov will go to Vienna, although he and Kerry agreed that Foreign Ministers would convene if there is “progress” in the talks.
Talks between Iran and the 5+1 Powers for a comprehensive nuclear agreement, facing a Monday deadline, will pick up in intensity in Vienna today with the participation of Foreign Ministers.
US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived on Thursday night and, after conferring with the American negotiators, went into a session with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the European Union’s foreign policy head Catherine Ashton.
There were plenty of photos of the smiling trio, but no details of the conversation, which followed Kerry’s consultations with other 5+1 members in London and Paris. The Secretary of State also conferred with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond are expected to join the meetings on Friday.
There was no word on whether Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was en route. His deputy, Sergei Ryabkov, told reporters on Thursday, “Without a new impetus, it will be extremely hard to achieve a result.”
The Chinese also did not indicate if they would step up the level of their delegation.
Prison Sentence of Top Analyst Zibakalam Reduced to a Fine
The 18-month prison sentence of Sadegh Zibakalam, one of Iran’s leading political analysts, has been reduced to a fine.
A Tehran appeals court reduced the punishment to a payment of $1,600 by Zibakalam, a Tehran University professor.
Zibakalam’s “crime” was to write publicly about the regime’s handling of corruption allegations among high-level officials and to ask, “What benefit and results has the nuclear policy had for the advancement, growth, and development of the country’s economy?”
See Iran Feature: Detaining Top Academic Zibakalam — For Questioning the Nuclear Program
In a blog post addressed to the judges of the appeals court, Zibakalam wrote, “Perhaps many viewed my verdict suspiciously from the beginning, and no doubt their suspicions are realized now, but I know full well just how serious that sentence was and how and why some gentlemen were truly after sending me to Evin [Prison].”
