EU: Iran nuclear talks to continue on lower level

Iran and six world powers are suspending high-level talks meant to dispel suspicions that Tehran might turn its nuclear activities into making weapons, the EU’s foreign policy chief said Tuesday. The announcement followed two days of intensive meetings that failed to bridge differences. The six powers want Tehran to stop enriching uranium to levels that bring it close to acquiring weapons-grade material, but Iran has demanded relief from economic sanctions and an acknowledgement that it has the right to enrich uranium. Catherine Ashton said future meetings on a senior level were possible. But she told reporters that both sides needed to first stage lower-level talks to see if there was any way to break the deadlock that has marked a series of negotiations since April. Meanwhile, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said he hoped a new round of talks would be agreed with world powers following a technical meeting planned for July 3 after the talks failed to resolve differences over Tehran’s nuclear program. But the Iranian negotiator also reiterated there was no reason to doubt the peaceful aims of Tehran’s nuclear program and said U.N. Security Council resolutions against Iran were “illegal.” The end of talks on the senior level is sure to be seen by critics as a sign of failure on the diplomatic track aimed at persuading Tehran to curb uranium enrichment, a process that can make reactor fuel and the core of nuclear warheads. Israel says Iran is stretching out talks to further advance its nuclear prowess and has threatened to attack Iran as a last resort. It may argue that the negotiations are turning into “talks about talks” – something the U.S. and its allies have vowed they will not tolerate. If talks collapse, anxiety could grow on financial markets over the danger of higher oil prices and conflict in the Middle East because Israel has threatened to attack Iranian nuclear sites if diplomacy fails to stop Tehran getting the bomb. “Our key requirements are: stop, shut and ship,” said a Western diplomat who was present at the talks. He was referring to demands for Iran to stop producing higher-grade uranium, ship any stockpile out of the country and close down an underground enrichment facility, Fordow. But Ashton, who convened the talks between Iran and the six powers, defended the decision to kick contacts down to a lower level as “the right way to go forward” and suggested Iran’s actions would determine whether negotiations between top officials resume. “We expect Iran to decide whether it is willing to make diplomacy work, to focus on reaching agreement on concrete confidence-building steps, and to address the concerns of the international community,” she said in a statement. She further said experts will meet on a technical level on July 4 in Istanbul. After participants report back, senior officials for both sides will discuss the results, Ashton said. Then, she and Jalili will determine if there is enough common ground to resume the high-level talks. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who leads Russia’s delegation at the talks, said as discussion resumed Tuesday that diplomacy could still work even though a European Union spokesman had described day one as “intense and tough.” “I don’t think anything will break down. We will have a reasonable outcome,” Ryabkov said. Iran denies nuclear weapons ambitions, insisting its atomic activities are geared only toward producing reactor fuel and making medical isotopes. It wants international sanctions lifted before it considers curbing its uranium enrichment activities, which is producing material to a level just steps away from weapons-grade material. After meeting at the G-20 summit in Mexico Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama again called for Tehran to prove its nuclear program is not aimed at developing weapons. Obama said they had agreed there was still time for a diplomatic solution to the standoff. The Moscow talks follow two rounds of negotiations since diplomacy resumed in April after a 15-month hiatus during which the West cranked up sanctions pressure and Israel repeated its threat to bomb Iranian nuclear sites if diplomacy failed. A series of United Nations Security Council resolutions since 2006 have demanded Iran suspend all its enrichment activities. Meeting Iran in Moscow were the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.