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West Close to Temporary Nuclear Deal With Iran, Official Says U.S. Will Ease Sanctions if Iran Halts Nuclear Program, Official Says
(about 4 hours later)
GENEVA — On the eve of a new round of talks between world powers and Iran, a senior Obama administration official said Wednesday that the United States was prepared to offer Iran limited relief from economic sanctions if Tehran agreed to halt its nuclear program and reversed part of it. GENEVA — On the eve of a new round of talks between world powers and Iran, a senior Obama administration official said Wednesday that the United States was prepared to offer Iran limited relief from economic sanctions if Tehran agreed to halt its nuclear program temporarily and reversed part of it.
The official said that suspending Iran’s nuclear efforts, perhaps for six months, would give negotiators time to pursue a comprehensive agreement. The official said that the suspension of Iran’s nuclear efforts, perhaps for six months, would give negotiators time to pursue a comprehensive and far more challenging agreement.
“Put simply, what we’re looking for now is a first phase, a first step, an initial understanding that stops Iran’s nuclear program from moving forward for the first time in decades and that potentially rolls part of it back,” the administration official told reporters on the condition of anonymity because of diplomatic concerns. “Put simply, what we’re looking for now is a first phase, a first step, an initial understanding that stops Iran’s nuclear program from moving forward for the first time in decades and that potentially rolls part of it back,” the official told reporters.
The official said that the details of such a step had already been discussed by international and Iranian officials and suggested that it might be agreed on as early as this week. It would likely include constraints on the level of Iran’s uranium enrichment, the country’s stockpiles of nuclear material and the abilities of its nuclear facilities, added the official, who declined to provide further details. It would also involve verification measures. The long-stymied talks with Iran were re-energized after Hassan Rouhani, the new Iranian president, took office in August and declared that he wanted to resolve longstanding concerns about the country’s nuclear program so that punishing economic sanctions could be lifted.
“In response to a first step agreed to by Iran that halts their program from advancing further, we are prepared to offer limited, targeted and reversible sanctions relief,” the administration official added. But while the atmospherics in the talks have improved, administration officials are concerned that the window for negotiations may close if some way is not found to freeze Iran’s nuclear program. Some experts say it has already advanced to the point that it has the technological capability to make a bomb.
If Iran violated the terms of such a step, or if a comprehensive agreement could not be reached, the sanctions would be fully reimposed. Olli Heinonen, the former deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in an interview that Iran had the technical know-how and sufficient quantities of uranium enriched to 20 percent to produce a nuclear explosive in two or three months. It would take considerably longer for Iran to develop the means of delivering such an explosive by a ballistic missile, he added, but the nuclear threshold would have been crossed.
Iran and international negotiators are scheduled to resume two days of talks here on Thursday. At the same time, American lawmakers have reacted to advances in Iran’s program by considering the imposition of even tougher economic sanctions, which Obama administration officials fear might harm the climate for negotiations.
Iran has also suggested that a temporary agreement might be reached. “I believe it is even possible to reach that agreement this week,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a recent interview with France 24, a major television network. “We’re looking for ways to put additional time on the clock,” said the administration official, who declined to be identified publicly under the administration’s diplomatic protocol for briefing reporters.
The world powers involved in the talks with Iran are known as the P5-plus-1 countries, so called because they include the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China — plus Germany. American officials would not provide details of the steps they wanted Iran to take to halt its nuclear program. But the administration official said such steps would cover the level of enrichment, Iran’s stockpiles of nuclear material and the capabilities of Iran’s nuclear facilities as well as verification. Just how long the suspension would last also remains to be negotiated, but six months is one time frame that has been discussed.
The American delegation is being led by Wendy Sherman, a senior State Department official. “In response to a first step agreed to by Iran that halts their program from advancing further, we are prepared to offer limited, targeted and reversible sanctions relief,” the administration official said, without specifying what sanctions might be eased.
Western officials said that a previous round of the talks last month appeared promising but that no specific measures had been agreed upon. That round was the first since the new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, took office in August and announced that he wanted to resolve longstanding concerns about the country’s nuclear program. American officials have said that they want to keep core oil and banking sanctions in place until there is a comprehensive agreement. The degree of relief the administration would provide for a “first step” would depend on the nuclear constraints Iran was willing to accept, officials said.
Iran insists that its program is peaceful, but the United States and Israel, among others, have accused the country of seeking to develop nuclear weapons. One form of relief, American officials have suggested in recent weeks, might be unfreezing Iranian assets overseas and releasing them in phases. That would allow the White House flexibility in rewarding Iran and would avoid the risks, political and diplomatic, of repealing more substantial sanctions.
Obama administration officials have asserted that Iran’s apparent willingness to accept constraints on its program in return for sanctions relief should be tested, and they have urged Congress not to impose additional sanctions. If Iran violated the terms of a “first step” understanding or if a comprehensive agreement could not be reached, the sanctions would be reimposed.
The duration of Iran’s halt on nuclear activity under the agreement has not been finalized, but Western officials said that a six-month suspension was being considered. Iran and international negotiators are to resume two days of talks here on Thursday, but some possible constraints and forms of sanctions relief were discussed with Iranian officials last month, the administration official said.
The American official would not say specifically what sanctions might be eased but suggested that the degree of relief would depend on the constraints Iran was willing to accept. The world powers involved in the talks with Iran are known as the P5-plus-1 countries, so called because they include the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China — plus Germany. The American delegation is being led by Wendy Sherman, the under secretary of state for political affairs.
The initial agreement is being described as “a first step” and not an interim agreement because the United States believes it would not be an end in itself but a move toward a more sweeping agreement, the administration official said. Whether the limited sanctions relief the United States is prepared to offer will persuade Iran to suspend its program is unclear.
Time is of the essence, nuclear experts have said, because Iran’s nuclear program has advanced to the point where it could quickly produce enough enriched material for a nuclear device. “I think the P5-plus-1 ought to go in with as robust a sanctions relief package as they can in order to get the maximum amount out of the Iranians in terms of slowing down and fencing in enrichment,” Thomas R. Pickering, a former ambassador and under secretary of state who has been a strong advocate of negotiations with Iran, said in a recent interview.
In addition, Congress has been in the process of imposing even tougher sanctions, which the White House fears might harm the climate for negotiations. American officials describe the initial understanding they are seeking with Iran as “a first step,” not an interim agreement, because they said it should be a move toward a more sweeping agreement.
“We’re looking for ways to put additional time on the clock,” the administration official said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has argued against a “partial deal,” which would raise the diplomatic and political cost for the White House if it appeared to be willing to settle for an interim accord with Tehran.
Iranian officials have publicly encouraged the hope that a breakthrough might be near, perhaps calculating that it will encourage Western concessions. “I believe it is even possible to reach that agreement this week,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a recent interview with France 24, a major television network.
The administration official was more cautious about what might be achieved this week but also suggested that an initial understanding might be within reach.
“I do see the potential for the outlines of a first step,” the official said. “I do think it can be written on a piece of paper, probably more than one.”