Iran may have resumed critical nuclear talks with the 5+1 Powers in Vienna on Tuesday, but it loses out in this morning’s Iranian headlines to the prospect of a Palestinian uprising against Israel.
As violence escalates in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, Press TV highlights a statement from Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian:
The Zionist regime’s impudent actions of continuing settlement construction in Palestinian lands and Judaization of the al-Aqsa Mosque have caused the groundwork for the third Intifada to be laid.
What is going on in this region is the reaction of the people of Palestine to the Zionist regime’s daily encroachments.
Prime space is also devoted to a Tuesday letter from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, criticizing Israeli security raids and restrictions on access by Muslims to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem: “These measures are in line with the Zionist regime’s uninterrupted policies for Judaizing Palestine.”
The Iranian reports highlight Israeli security measures, but do not mention Tuesday’s attack on a synagogue in western Jerusalem that killed five people and wounded eight.
See Israel-Palestine Daily, Nov 18: 4 Killed in Synagogue Attack in Jerusalem
Meanwhile, the nuclear talks opened in Vienna with a working lunch between Zarif and the European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
Zarif said afterwards, “We had good talks and decided on how to continue the negotiations in the coming days and the rest depends on the political will to achieve results.”
Iran’s lead nuclear negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, added, “We have always raised many ideas and proposals which are enough for them to remove their concerns.”
Ashton made no comment.
Iran and the 5+1 Powers are seeking a comprehensive nuclear agreement by November 24, when interim arrangements expire.
See Iran Daily, Nov 18: Critical Nuclear Talks Open in Vienna
Later on Tuesday, Araqchi and another senior Iranian negotiator, Majid Takht Ravanchi, met with US Undersecretary of State William Burns and the American lead negotiator, Wendy Sherman.
Araqchi and Ravanchi will continue bilateral meetings with counterparts from Russia, Germany, France, and Britain on Wednesday.
