Israeli, Iranian envoys attend nuclear forum
But both sides deny private meetings held
JERUSALEM - Israeli officials confirmed yesterday that Israeli and Iranian envoys participated in discussions at a recent multilateral forum on nuclear issues in Cairo, but they said the two representatives held no private meetings and played down the significance of the event.
A spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization also denied that any separate meetings took place between the Iranian and Israeli delegations on the sidelines of the gathering, according to the website of Iran’s state broadcasting authority.
The regional meeting took place in the Egyptian capital on Sept. 28-30 under the auspices of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, a forum of specialists established at the initiative of the Australian and Japanese governments. Israel was represented by Meirav Zafary-Odiz, director of policy and arms control for the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, and Iran by Ali Asghar Soltanieh, ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“There was a conference,’’ said Yael Doron, a spokeswoman for the Israel Atomic Energy Commission. “She was there and he was there, but there was no direct contact or dialogue between them.’’
Several other Middle Eastern countries took part in the discussions, including Saudi Arabia, which, like Iran, has no diplomatic relations with Israel.
The gathering was held behind closed doors, but details emerged last week in the Australian newspaper The Age.
The paper reported that Australia had “helped accomplish the seemingly impossible - bringing Israel and Iran into the same room for high-level talks on nuclear weapons.’’ It quoted unidentified participants as saying there was a “very robust exchange’’ between the Israeli and Iranian officials, who sat with other delegates around the table.
The website of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz yesterday published more details of the meeting.
But Israeli officials said it was not unusual for Israeli and Iranian officials to be in the same room and present their positions at international bodies and forums. The Iranian delegate, Soltanieh, has attended at least one such informal gathering with Israelis in the past.
The timing of the Cairo meeting may have added significance, however, with the growing concern both in Israel and internationally over Iran’s nuclear program and a sense in Israel that time to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons may be running out.
Iran is openly and vehemently hostile to Israel, but insists that its nuclear program is intended for civilian purposes only.
Israel is believed to have a large nuclear arsenal but maintains a policy of nuclear ambiguity, neither confirming nor denying its status as a nuclear power.
There has been little official Israeli reaction to a draft agreement taking shape in Vienna, where earlier this week Iran took part in nuclear talks with the United States, Russia, and France, though it is generally being treated here with caution and suspicion.
Under the agreement, about three-quarters of Iran’s known stockpile of nuclear fuel would be shipped to Russia for enrichment to levels suitable for a peaceful nuclear reactor but too low for weapons. Such a deal would delay Iran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon for about a year, buying more time for President Obama to search for a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff.
One former Israeli official with intimate knowledge of the nuclear issue said that it was better to have the fuel shipped out than left in Iran, but that there may be more nuclear fuel reserves than the West knows about in covert facilities in Iran.
