Iran talks continue despite rifts

Tehran and world powers have made little progress as nuclear talks continue for second and final day in Istanbul. Last Modified: 22 Jan 2011 09:44 GMT

Saeed Jalili, Iran's nuclear negotiator, held separate talks with Chinese and Russian delegations [Reuters] World powers have made little progress in persuading Iran to halt its nuclear programme, as talks over Tehran's controversial nuclear programme entered the second and final day in the Turkish city of Istanbul. "Little has been achieved.. and little has been leaked from inside the closed dooor meetings," Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall reported from Istanbul on Saturday. However, there was some relief that Iran was ready to continue with discussions; diplomats were concerned talks could have collapsed after the first day as both sides reiterated previous positions on the issue. Iran refuses discuss the issue of its uranium enrichment, Vall said, while the Western powers represented at the talks see it as a core concern. Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign policy chief, is the lead negotiator for the big powers - the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany. "She seems to have had some success in trying narrow the gaps and the Iranians seem to be responding positively to her," a Western diplomat told Reuters news agency. However, Al Jazeera's Vall said comments made by former UK prime minister Tony Blair on Friday, that it was time for the West to take action against Iran, could affect the mood at the talks. Blair was speaking at a London inquiry into the Iraq war where he said the time had come to "get our heads out of the sand" and take action against Iran. Separate meetings In Depth Focus: Iran sanctions: all pain, no gain Opinion: And the real enemy is ... Opinion: The Iranian dilemma Sanctions cripple the UN Inside Story: Targeting Iran's nuclear scientists Cutting ties with Iran? Saeed Jalili, Iran's nuclear negotiator, met with Russian and Chinese delegations on Friday evening on the sidelines of the talks. Jalili was also expected to meet Bill Burns, his US counterpart, but he excused himself at the last moment, saying he had a "headache," sources said. "We are fully prepared to have a conversation with Iran, but whether it will happen remains to be seen," PJ Crowley. the US state department spokesman, had previously said in Washington. Burns and Jalili met on the sidelines of an earlier round of talks in Geneva in 2009, but such contacts have been rarely confirmed by the Iranian side. Bravado Al Jazeera's Alireza Ronaghi, reporting from Tehran, called Iran's responses to the world powers "bravado on full throttle". The Iranian delegation feels they are taking the high road in offering to co-operate with these world powers, Ronaghi said, but they won't be seen to compromise. "[Iran is] suggesting that if anyone wants these talks to work, these world powers should compromise. They should backtrack from what they have approved in the UN Security Council before." "Iran is asking the world to put aside their concerns and their worries about Iran's nuclear programme," Ronaghi said, adding that the probability of that happening was "very, very unlikely". Uranium enrichment Early on during Friday's sessions, an Iranian delegate said Iran refused to discuss any suspension of its uranium enrichment activities during the Istanbul talks. Iran has ignored UN Security Council resolutions demanding it suspend enrichment, with trade and other benefits offered in return, and refused to grant unfettered access for UN nuclear inspectors. Uranium enriched to a low degree yields fuel for electricity or, if refined to a very high level, the fissile core of a nuclear weapon. Tehran says its nuclear programme is peaceful. The country's nuclear standoff with the West has escalated in the past year, with the United Nations imposing new sanctions and Western states rejecting a revised proposal for Iran to swap some of its fuel abroad as too little, too late. Ashton outlined a possible revised offer for a nuclear fuel swap that would entail Iran handing over a large chunk of its stockpile of low enriched uranium. But no offer was made as Iran's preconditions included a suspension of economic sanctions, a Western diplomat said.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies