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Latest on Nuclear Talks Tonight
Meetings, But No Prospect of Nuclear Deal, in Geneva
Iran Delegation: “Good Meeting” with 5+1 Powers’ Ashton, Follow-Up Soon
Supreme Leader’s Office Puts Out “Israel Is Rabid Dog” Poster
Lead Iran Negotiator: Talks “Hopeful” But Hurdle is “Lack of Trust”

The first day of renewed talks over Iran’s nuclear program, between Tehran and the 5+1 Powers in Geneva, yielded little information on Wednesday.

However, participants on both sides put out general statements of hope, with one Iranian diplomat praising the return to a “positive” mood.

Speaking to Iran’s Press TV late Wednesday, the spokesman for the 5+1 Powers, Michael Mann, said, “Things have moved forward a lot” after the “considerable progress” in the previous round of talks in Geneva two weeks ago.

Mann said the lead negotiator for the 5+1 Powers, the European Union’s Catherine Ashton, “wants to find as soon as possible a sustainable and robust deal with Iran that is really verifiable and reassures the international community about the purely peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program”.

Press TV’s coverage of Mann’s official breifing to the media:

Ashton met Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the introductory meeting on Wednesday before a plenary session and then bilateral meetings.

In Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry was upbeat, “We have the best chance we’ve had in a decade, we believe, to halt progress and roll back Iran’s program.”

At the same time, Kerry tried to reassure domestic critics of any deal, saying the US “will not allow this agreement, should it be reached — and I say should it be reached — to buy time” for any Iranian military use of the nuclear program or to fall short of “our core fundamental concerns”.

Chatter, fed by some Western officials, is circulating in Geneva that Kerry and other Foreign Ministers from the 5+1 Powers will join talks by Friday.

All the Foreign Ministers, except for China’s, suddenly went to Geneva two weeks ago as negotiations surged towards an interim deal. They were checked on the final day by French objections to the agreement.

Latest on Nuclear Talks Tonight

The 5+1 Powers are reviewing the state of discussions tonight, with the bilateral negotiation between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the 5+1’s Catherine Ashton starting Friday’s talks:

But the lead Iranian negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, is sounding downbeat:

Meetings, But No Prospect of Nuclear Deal, in Geneva

There have been a series of bilateral meetings this afternoon and evening in Geneva between Iran and delegations from the 5+1 Powers (US, Britain, China, Russia, France, and Germany), notably between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the 5+1 lead negotiator Catherine Ashton.

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has spoken throughout the day of the need to rebuild trust and confidence after the last-minute failure to get an interim deal two weeks ago, and tonight he is still being cautious:

Michael Mann, the 5+1 spokesman, was more effusive:

The US State Department has confirmed that there has been no bilateral between the American and Iranian delegations today.

Iran Delegation: “Good Meeting” with 5+1 Powers’ Ashton, Follow-Up Soon

Iranian negotiators have met with the European Union’s Catherine Ashton, speaking for the 5+1 Powers, and are already looking forward to the follow-up session:

But will there be a move towards an interim agreement?

Meanwhile, Ashton’s spokesman Michael Mann has denied a quote, attributed to him by Al-Mayadeen TV, that the Foreign Ministers of the 5+1 Powers will be arriving in Geneva tomorrow.

Supreme Leader’s Office Puts Out “Israel Is Rabid Dog” Poster

This may not be the best way to encourage talks in Geneva — the Supreme Leader’s office, expanding on a phrase in Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech on Wednesday, has disseminated this poster via Twitter:

Lead Iran Negotiator: Talks “Hopeful” But Hurdle is “Lack of Trust”

Iran’s lead negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, has opened Thursday with a briefing of the press. He said Wednesday’s discussions offered hope but indicated there was still some way to go for agreement.

Araqchi said that, if this morning’s talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the 5+1 Powers’ Catherine Ashton went well, then discussions could begin on the draft text of an interim agreement.