Iran agrees to concessions on uranium
Will open nuclear plant to inspectors
GENEVA - The United States and Iran tentatively stepped back from a looming confrontation yesterday, reaching an agreement with other major powers that would greatly reduce Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium and reset the diplomatic clock for a solution to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The outcome, which President Obama in Washington called a “constructive beginning,’’ came after 7 1/2 hours of talks in an 18th-century villa on the outskirts of Geneva that included the highest-level bilateral meeting between the two countries since relations were severed three decades ago after the Iranian revolution.
But the difficulties that lie ahead were illustrated when the chief Iranian negotiator, Saeed Jalili, held a triumphant press conference at which he denounced “media terrorism,’’ insisted that Iran has always fully met its commitments, and refused to acknowledge a question from an Israeli reporter.
The sudden show of cooperation by Tehran reduces for now the threat of additional sanctions, made repeatedly by the United States and others over the past week following the revelation of a secret Iranian nuclear facility. The United States will need to keep the pressure on Iran to avoid being dragged into a process without end.
Under the tentative deal, Iran would give up most of its enriched uranium to Russia for it to be converted into desperately needed material for a medical research reactor in Tehran. Iran also agreed to let international inspectors visit the newly disclosed uranium-enrichment facility in Qom within two weeks, and then to attend another meeting with negotiators from the major powers by the end of the month.
The series of agreements struck at the meeting was unusual because, in the past, the Iranian negotiators have said they would get back with an answer - and then fail to do so.
US and other diplomats present at the talks said the tone of the Iranian delegation privately was not different from the public posture, with much of the morning devoted to lengthy exchanges of official talking points. But they said the mood shifted subtly after the participants broke for lunch. The chief US negotiator, Undersecretary of State William Burns, spent 45 minutes in a small sitting room with Jalili while the other diplomats gathered in the villa’s backyard.
The negotiators - including diplomats from Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, and the European Union - never returned to the conference table but continued huddling in a rotating series of groups to structure the agreements.
The outcome was criticized by former UN ambassador John Bolton, who as a Bush administration official balked at Bush’s efforts to entice Iran into negotiations.
“They’ve now got the United States ensnared in negotiations,’’ he said. “This is like the movie ‘Groundhog Day.’ ’’
But another Bush-era official, former undersecretary of state Nicholas Burns, said that even if talks fail, Obama will have demonstrated that he tried hard to make diplomacy work and will win greater support for sanctions.
Despite the drama of sudden movement on an issue that has been in stalemate for seven years, all sides agreed that they are months or years from a resolution. The ultimate US goal is suspension of Iran’s uranium- enrichment activities, and Iran insists it will never take that step.
“This is only a start, and we shall need to see progress through some of the practical steps we have discussed today,’’ said European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who headed the delegation of six nations meeting with Iran.
