Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili advised the so-called P5+1 group (Consisting of the USA, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany) to seize the opportunity to reach an agreement on nuclear talks with Iran.

Jalili was talking to journalists after a dinner meeting with the EU foreign policy head Catherine Ashton on Wednesday, he recalled the 2010 Iran–Brazil-Turkey deal to swap Iranian uranium stockpiles as an opportunity that the west failed to seize.

“Tehran’s declaration was about the supplying of Tehran’s medical reactor with 20% uranium but instead of seizing the opportunity they [the west] issued resolution 1929 [against Iran]” Jalili said.

Iran signed a joint declaration with Turkey and Brazil on May 16, 2010 to ship 1,200kg of low enriched uranium to Turkey for a later exchange of 120kg of enriched isotope for its medical nuclear reactor in Tehran.

 But within hours after the deal was announced by Brazilian and Turkish leaders the US rejected that and pushed ahead with sanctions.

 After the swap deal failed, Iran which was in need of 20% enriched uranium for its medical reactor developed its nuclear program to produce 20% uranium itself.

 “[After Tehran’s declaration failed] , Iran supplied itself with 20% enriched Uranium (According to the rights of NPT memebers) and [the P5+1] lost the opportunity opened up by the Tehran declaration. Then they [after three years] in Almaty-I asked to talk about 20% enrichment,” said Jalili in a press conference on Thursday morning.

 “The Iranian nation [never] retreats from its rights. I hope this time they study our proposals in the Almaty-II talks to avoid later regrets,” he said as a warning that Iran would go further on its nuclear program if the west continues to ignore Iran’s proposals.

EU foreign policy head Catherine Ashton and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili had a dinner meeting in Turkish city of Istanbul, on May 15. The meeting was a follow up to last round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 held in Almaty, Kazakhstan on April 5-6.

Speaking at a press conference after the Almaty talks, Jalili said that Iran provided a comprehensive operational plan to the P5+1 and it is now up to the group to decide on how to respond to the Iranian proposals.

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While EU foreign policy head Catherine Ashton and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili meet each other tonight in the Turkish city of Istanbul, two sides do not even have a shared vision of the content and objective of their meeting.

The dinner meeting tonight in Istanbul is a follow up to the last round of Iran – P5+1 (US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany) nuclear talks held in Almaty, Kazakhstan on April 5th and 6th.

Dr. Jalili on arrival in Istanbul on Wednesday morning told journalists that he is expecting to “receive P5+1’s response to Iran’s proposal” which was presented in Almaty-I talks on February 26th and 27th.

Jalili said that Ashton and the P5+1 delegations promised in their final statement of Almaty-II talks to answer Iran’s proposal within several days, but now, after a long delay, he is in Istanbul to hear the result of P5+1 consultations with their foreign ministers.

On the other side, Catherine Ashton in remarks before her meeting with Saeed Jalili expressed hope to receive Iran’s respond to proposals that the P5+1 have put forward in Almaty on both occasions.

“This is not a negotiating meeting, but it is an opportunity to take time to consider further the good proposals we have put forward,” she said.

Catherine Ashton said in her statement at the end of Almaty-II talks that the P5+1 delegations will go back to their capitals to evaluate the process and later she will be in touch with Dr. Jalili in order to see how to go forward.

Ashton is also likely to get information about the Iran’s upcoming presidential election from Jalili, who may be the next Iranian president as he announced his candidacy for the upcoming Iran’s presidential election.

Iran also had a new round of negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on Wednesday.

The ongoing talks are the 10th round of the negotiations between Iran and the IAEA over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program since early 2012.

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The meeting is a follow up to last round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 (consisting of US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany) held in Almaty, Kazakhstan on April 5-6.

According to a source close to the Iranian negotiating team, the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili is accompanied by his deputy Ali Bagheri.

“Even though it took a long time [since Almaty-II talks] but we are waiting to receive P5+1 answers to Iran’s proposal,” said Jalili after he arrived in Istanbul.

Answering to question regard possible effect of Iran’s presidential election on nuclear talks, Jalili said: “Nuclear issue is a national one and all parties have consensus on this. So the presidential election has will not affect [the talks].”

 After tonight’s meeting, two sides will likely issue a joint statement and Dr. Jalili, a candidate of Iran’s June 14 presidential election will hold a press conference in the Iranian consulate on Thursday.

“We are ready to listen to the results of Mrs. Ashton’s meeting with foreign ministers of the P5+1,” said the source speaking on condition of anonymity.

Catherine Ashton who represents the P5+1 said in the end of Almaty-II talks that the group delegation will go back to capitals to evaluate the process and later she will be in touch with Dr. Jalili in order to see how to go forward.

Ashton likely to get information about the Iran’s upcoming presidential election from Jalili, who may be the next Iranian president as he announced his candidacy for the upcoming Iranian presidential election.

Iran also started a new round of negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on Wednesday.

The ongoing talks are the 10th round of the negotiations between Iran and the IAEA over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program since early 2012.

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Iran’s deputy nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri was in an analytical program on state TV to explain what happened one week after the latest round of negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 (five permanent members of United Nation Security Council plus Germany).

“In Almaty – 2, Iran forced the other side to start bargaining and enter into serious negotiations for the first time ever,” Dr. Bagheri said

“Iran clarified that it will only accept to take some of the steps of the P5+1 proposal in return for proper reciprocal steps. Dr. Jalili told the P5+1 delegates that we can either take proper, reciprocal and simultaneous steps or not take any steps at all,” adding that due to the importance of making decisions, the P5+1 delegates needed to consult with their capitals so: “ they proposed to have another meeting and Dr. Jalili agreed. Although he had already said in the talks that Iran is ready to continue talks and go into details even now.”

“In fact, we demanded that the other side make its decision and the ball is now in P5+1’s court,” Bagheri said.

“I’ve never seen anything quite like it. There was intensive dialogue on key issues at the core [of the proposed confidence building measures]. Both sides came away with a better understanding of each others’ positions,” a senior U.S. official said.

Western diplomats had offered limited sanctions relief on Tehran. In return, they had asked Iran to suspend its 20% uranium enrichment but Tehran reiterated it needs to use it in a medical-research reactor.

The undersecretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council for Foreign Policy and International Security said in his interview with state TV that “The lack of the P5+1 political directors having enough authority was the main obstacle to reaching an agreement in Almaty.”

“They could neither leave the talks as a complete failure nor could they make a critical decision. So they decided to return to their capitals to consult with the real decision makers,” Bagheri said.

“Dr. Jalili told Ms. Ashton in Moscow last year, that the current level of the P5+1 negotiators aren’t [authorised for] decision making and she endorsed that fact.”

Another problem for reaching a breakthrough in the nuclear talks from Iran’s viewpoint is internal differences between the members (U.S, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, members of the so called P5+1 group).

“The differences between the stance of Russia and China and other members of the P5+1 are clear. But even the western members of the group do not have a unified position,” Bagheri said.

“Sometimes in the talks, when Dr. Jalili declared his stance on a specific subject, we faced different and conflicting answers from the western delegates of the P5+1.”

The differences between P5+1 becomes more significant after talks in Almaty.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by Russia Today describing the talks “definitely a step forward.” However, U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague took a tougher line, urging Iran to “consider carefully whether it wants to continue on its current course and face increasing pressure and isolation.”

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany wrapped up their latest round of negotiations on April 6 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Speaking at a press conference after the talks, Jalili said that Iran provided a comprehensive operational plan to the P5+1 and it is now up to the group to decide on how to respond to the Iranian proposals.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the P5+1, said on the same day that the two sides of the negotiations “remain far apart on the substance” of the talks.

However, she added, “Indeed, we have talked in much greater detail than ever before, and our efforts will continue in that direction.”

The US, Israel and some of their allies claim that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with the US and the European Union using the false claim as pretext to impose illegal sanctions against Iran.

Tehran rejects the allegation over its nuclear energy activities, maintaining that as a committed signatory to the NPT and a member of the IAEA, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

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On February 27^th after 2 days of negotiations, Iran and P5+1 agreed to hold talks on March 18^th in Istanbul with experts from the two parties to attend and discuss technical issues of the offers made during Almaty talks; they also agreed that senior political directors will meet again in Almaty, Kazakhstan to resume talks.

European Union foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton refused to talk about the details of the P5+1 proposal as the offer is being reviewed by Iranians and experts.

However some American media quoted a senior American diplomat whose name remained unknown as having said that the 6 powers proposal to Iran include curbing 20% uranium enrichment, restraining activities at Fordow nuclear site located somewhere close to the city of Qom in exchange for some sanction relief particularly on Iran’s petrochemical exports.

The P5+1 “has not asked for the shutting down of Fordow plant,” Saeed Jalili, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council who leads the country’s team of negotiators with the P5+1, told journalists after the two-day talks ended.

‘”Fordow is a legal and fully recognized plan for the IAEA and operates under its supervision. IAEA studies its activities and it works completely based on the agency’s rules and there is no justification for the closure of the plant,” he added.

Iranian experts who have reviewed the Almaty offer in Tehran say: ‘P5+1 has proposed the six months suspension of enrichment activities in Fordow plant in exchange for suspension of sanctions on Iran’s petrochemical exports and gold trading.’

Iran has mentioned recognition of the country’s “right for enrichment” as a signatory of the NPT, Iran’s main demand from the P5+1 in order to resume talks but had described the degree of the enrichment as “according to needs” and “negotiable” .

Although Jalili called the six powers’ proposal in Almaty “an effort to get closer to Iran’s standpoints” and “positive”, he urged that “we have a long way to reach.”

Catherine Ashton said: “The offer addresses international concerns on the exclusively peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear programme, but is also responsive to Iranian ideas.”

Almaty talks received a great deal of attention in Iran and most Iranian media described it a “victory for Iran” and “West’s withdrawal from its previous stands”

Kazem Sediqi, Speaker of Friday Prayer of 1 March defined Almaty talks as demonstrating Iran’s “stable and consistent stance”.

He stated that “Iran’s degree of enrichment is not any other country’s affair and the Iranian nation will benefit from their basic rights as per their needs and are not scared of any power.”

The long-term suspension of uranium enrichment in 2004 and while the reformist government of Iran was in power had always received serious criticism from the country’s Supreme Leader and “suspension of enrichment” has turned into a redline whose acceptance equals surrender and admitting defeat.

“The administration of [Khatami] due to lack of authority-based reasoning and initiatives, had surrendered to west’s demands and IAEA’s and this lead the agency to issue 6 different resolutions against our country at the time,” said Ali Baqeri.

Nonetheless Iran’s team of negotiators and state senior officials have recurrently insisted that the 20% enrichment is only aimed at fulfilling medical needs of Tehran’s nuclear reactor and through developing other means of accomplishing such fulfillment, this degree of uranium enrichment can be halted. Thus Iran would continue its enrichment activities with a 5% degree afterwards.

It should be reminded that Iran has not accepted Almaty offers yet and has merely called it a positive step; as it has been stated in the Iranian statement on Almaty talks, “We consider these talks a positive step which could be completed by taking a positive and constructive approach and taking reciprocal steps. “

Therefore the expert talks to be held on March 18^th in Istanbul bear great significance. The two teams are to discuss the details of the presented proposals in order to make it clear what steps each team would take.

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 Iranian top negotiator, Saeed Jalili told the reporters after the talks that the P5+1 finally addressed some of the demands Iran had made during Moscow talks 6 months ago.

Jalili noted that the P5+1 were more realistic during Almaty talks and retreated from some of their previous positions. “Some of the points raised in their response were more realistic compared to what they said in the past, and they tried to get closer to Iran’s viewpoints of Iran which we believe is a positive move.” He however emphasized that they were yet far from reaching “the optimum point”.

Concerning Fordo facilities, Jalili said it was completely legal and demanding for its closure would have been illogical. He added, though, that the P5+1 did not demand  the closure of Fordo in this round of talks.

EU Foreign Policy Chief, Catherine Ashton, also attended a short press conference at the end of the talks, answering few questions. “Iran’s proposals have been included in the revised plan,” she told reporters, refusing to get into details of P5+1 new package.

As the P5+1 retreated from its former points, Iran can be considered the winner of Almaty talks. “Either a 1-0 win, or a 7-0 win, it makes no difference. The Important thing is that we won,” said an Iranian diplomat who attended the talks.

At the end of the talks, it was announced that an expert-level technical meeting would be held in Turkey in March and a political plenary meeting would be held in Kazakhstan in April.

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The second day of nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 is held in Almaty while the two sides agreed to have a technical meeting in Istanbul and then another political meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan. no date specified by Iran’sView source.

 “We had a useful meeting today. Further discussions took place this evening. We have agreed to have another meeting tomorrow at 11 o’clock,” Michael Mann, the spokesman for Catherine Ashton, told reporters last night.

The Iranian chief negotiator Saeed Jalili and Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, held a bilateral meeting on Wednesday before the talks. Later in the day, Jalili also met Kazakh foreign minister.  

Today’s plenary session is going to be a short meeting. Iran is expected to present its new proposal to the P5+1. Iranian officials said yesterday that their proposal is changeable and depending on what the other side suggests, a suitable version of it is going to be presented. Diplomatic sources say that both sides would probably agree on holding technical talks.

An Iranian diplomat told Iran’sView that the p5+1 have retreated from lots of their previous positions and agreed to some compromises.

“Actually P5+1 proposal isn’t something new. They have modified their Baghdad package in response to our moscow request.”, the diplomat stressed.

Unlike previous rounds of talks, the P5+1 is trying to show a positive picture of Almaty talks.

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Despite some speculations, sources close to the Iranian side stated that the country has a significant proposal, none of the details of which have been disclosed so far. Previously there were speculations that only the P5+1 group had a new offer in Almaty.

“Our proposal includes  a wide range of options. Depending on what we hear from the other side, we will present a suitable version of our proposal. But anyways, Iran is presenting a new proposal,” the iranian diplomat said.

“We want to know if the West is really concerned over Iran’s nuclear program or they use this issue only as blackmail,” the diplomat added.He said that Almaty talks would shed light on the west’s intentions. In Moscow too, Iran presented a comprehensive proposal to the p5+1 but has not received any response to it yet.

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Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili has met Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Almaty ahead of the nuclear talks with p5+1.

In the meeting, Jalili pointed to the common view of Iran and Kazakhstan towards nuclear disarmament in the world.

He also emphasized that the world powers could not dissuade Iran from pursing its nuclear rights despite all the pressures and threats against the country.

Jalili added that the global society is waiting for the constructive, credible, and rational response of the p5+1 to the comprehensive offer made by Iran during the talks in Moscow. He insisted that the only way for the powers to get out of these self-made problems is to follow a strategy of interaction with Iran and accept Iran’s nuclear right unconditionally.

Talking about the special conditions of the region, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council also noted the Muslim world and the countries in the region should be united in order to succeed in the international arena. 

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With less than a day before the beginning of the new round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and P5+1, there seems to be no  clear consensus over the scenario of the negotiation among the members of the group.

Just ahead of the talks, some western news resources announced that the P5+1 intended to offer a new pack to Iran based on which sanctions on the trade of gold and precious metals would be lifted in return for a reduction preparations in Fordo facilities.

Soon after the release of the news, however, some other western sources stated that there would not be a new offer essentially and that P5+1 is set to offer a package to Iran insisting on certain components of the 2008 offer. It was also suggested in the news that Almaty offer would be similar to Baghdad offer with only few modifications.

This is while during the  nuclear talks in Moscow Iran suggested that if the west lifted the sanctions it would cooperate more with the agency on the ground of 20 percent uranium enrichment . Moscow offer has not received an official response from the P5+1 so far.

Now that the delegations of negotiators have arrived in Almaty, contradictory signals are sent from the west.

This morning Washington Post quoted an American diplomat as saying the group merely expects a consensus over certain issues.

The remarks contradict previous claims made by other western sources stating that a detailed and significant offer is to be given to Iran.

Meanwhile the Spokesperson for the US Department of State noted that the country plans to repeat the offer in direct talks with Iran.

Some experts believe US insisting on and repeating the offer just after Iran’s Leader Ayatollah Khamenei clarified his stance over the direct talks with the US, is a sign of US attempts to play media games and dodge the negotiations. This in a way suggests that US lack of seriousness in talks.

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