As Netanyahu Hypes Iranian ‘Threat,’ Russia Holds Tehran Talks

Russian Foreign Ministry Terms Talks Stalled, But Efforts Continue

Nuclear talks are continuing today in Tehran, with Russian officials trying to revive the P5+1 talks in a series of relatively secretive discussions with Iranian officials. The Iranian government said Russia’s proposal might be a basis for new talks.

Determined to keep diplomacy from taking shape, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today met with a group of 27 US Congressmen, declaring that Iran is the “largest danger standing before us today” and that it plots both to create nuclear weapons and to foil “peace and freedom in the Middle East.”

Russian Foreign Ministry officials insisted that the Tehran talks haven’t “yet given results” but they don’t seem to have given up so far, with more efforts to talk restart the talks, which have been happening off and on since 2009.

The P5+1 talks in late 2009 ended with a preliminary deal on third party enrichment, but this fell apart when the Obama Administration insisted that it was “too little, too late” in May 2010. Despite US and Israeli claims that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, the IAEA continues to verify the non-diversion of nuclear materials from its civilian program.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.