Iran: Clear Proposals Ready for P5+1 Talks

EU Expects 'Positive Response' to Iran Proposals

The P5+1 and Iran are set to begin the next round of talks in Kazakhstan, and if you take the United States out of the equation, everyone’s going into the situation pretty optimistically, and believes progress can be made.

One of Iran’s negotiators commented on the matter, saying that Iran had viewed the proposals from the February meeting and was set to present “clear, groundbreaking proposals” of their own at the Friday, Saturday meeting.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton’s spokesman was interviewed on Iran’s state media, and suggested that was what their nations involved in the talks wanted. She insisted a “clear and concrete” response from Iran and a positive response from the P5+1 were what she was hoping to get out of the meeting.

Ashton’s spokesman added that “nobody is denying the right for Iran or any other country to have nuclear technology for medical purposes or energy purposes.” The US may have something to say about that, however, for while they give lip-service to this notion they have repeatedly demanded Iran stop enriching uranium to 20 percent, an attempt to build fuel rods for the US-built Tehran Research Reaction, the country’s only source of medical isotopes.

US officials have downplayed the chances of anything coming out of this meeting, and insist that the failure will be entirely Iran’s fault. The details of proposals on either side are so far unclear.

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.