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Daily News Analysis

US duplicity stalls progress at Iran-P5+1 talks in New York

Crescent International

The US never negotiates in good faith. Its obstructionist attitude is frustrating progress at the Iran-P5+1 talks, the latest round of which was held in New York during the 69 session of the UN General Assembly. Talks will resume in two weeks time but if the US does not change its attitude in making outlandish demands, then the deal will not be signed by the November 24 deadline.

New York,

Tuesday September 29, 2014, 22:51 DST

The Iran and P5+1 talks on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program have effectively been stalled, under pressure from the US and Israel.

Representatives from the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China, all members of the P5+1, were in attendance at 69th meeting of the UN General Assembly that started last week in New York. It was expected that they would meet in order to resolve the impasse, but this has not happened; the P5+1 have instead decided to revisit the question in October. Meanwhile, the November 24 deadline for reaching an agreement is inching closer.

The New York Times reported the US and Israeli positions: “Officials from Iran and the six countries had cautioned ahead of the talks in New York that a breakthrough was unlikely to end sanctions on Tehran, although they had hoped substantial progress could be made in narrowing disagreements. A senior State Department official said gaps "are still serious" with just eight weeks to go before a Nov. 24 deadline.”

While Iran has attempted to reach an agreement in good faith, the US has buckled under the pressure applied by Israel, the only nuclear state in the Middle East, that has made no secret of its inveterate enmity to Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.

As per the interim deal, Iran had agreed to constraints on its nuclear enrichment program in return for a partial lifting of the sanctions. It was further agreed that all parties would work to strike a comprehensive deal by July 2014.

That has not happened because the US has raised issues unrelated to the nuclear file. While demanding that Iran virtually give up its rights under the NPT, the US has only promised to suspend but not lift these sanctions.

At the UN General Assembly meeting, the Iranian President Hasan Rohani made his displeasure at the delaying tactics known. “Since the previous negotiations until today, we have really shown the required flexibility and now it is the other side’s turn to show flexibility, so that the issue can be resolved,” President Rohani said at a Friday (September 26) press conference on the sidelines of the 69th meeting of the UN General Assembly. “The time remaining to reach an agreement is short and the progress we have witnessed over the past days has been very, very slow; it needs to be faster, so that we can reach the agreement based on the realities,” the Iranian chief executive pointed out.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, Seyyed Abbas Araqchi said that the talks were constructive and both sides clarified their positions, there are still significant gaps between the two sides. Western diplomats claiming anonymity also said the same thing while Iran’s Foreign Minister Dr Javad Zarif said given flexibility and political will from the other side, a deal could be concluded very quickly. The deal is held up due to US duplicity whose position in turn is dictated by the Zionists.

Unlike the western European powers that tow the American line, the Chinese and Russians would like to arrive at a fair deal. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reaffirmed this during his address to the UN General Assembly. He said nuclear negotiations between Tehran and the P5+1 group had entered a “crucial” stage. He called for a “comprehensive,” “fair” and “balanced” agreement to resolve Iran’s nuclear issue. Wang also called on all parties involved in the talks to show sincerity and make all efforts to iron out their differences and reach an “early” and “win-win” agreement.

END


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