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World Powers Renew Push on Iranian Nuclear Program Deal May Be Near as New Iran Nuclear Talks Open
(about 11 hours later)
GENEVA — Senior officials from six world powers met Wednesday in Geneva in a new bid to reach an agreement with Iran on its nuclear program despite opposition from Israel, some members of the United States Congress and Iranian hard-liners. GENEVA — Senior diplomats from six world powers and Iran opened a new round of talks on Wednesday in Geneva amid expectations that they were closing in on an agreement to freeze Tehran’s nuclear program.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on policy matters in Iran, assured an audience of thousands of members of the hard-line Basij paramilitary organization that the negotiators would not compromise on Iran’s main nuclear policies. The talks began against a backdrop of heightened security as diplomats held open the possibility that Secretary of State John Kerry and other foreign ministers might sweep in to seal the accord if the negotiations succeed. The current negotiating round is scheduled to end Friday but could be extended into the weekend if an accord appears within reach.
“I do not interfere in the details of the talks,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in a speech in Tehran. “We will not step back one iota from our rights.” Another sign that a deal may be in the offing has been the stepped-up efforts by the White House to build support for an accord, which would pause much of Iran’s program for six months in return for easing economic sanctions.
Iran’s leaders have always emphasized a set of “red lines,” vowing not to stop enrichment, which has been demanded by five United Nations Security Council resolutions. The Iranians also refuse to temporarily halt enrichment. In a meeting with lawmakers on Tuesday, President Obama and Mr. Kerry emphasized that the sanctions relief the administration would offer Iran would be worth about $6 billion or $7 billion, according to a participant who asked not to be identified because he was discussing a confidential meeting. That is less than the $10 billion or $20 billion that has figured in some reports.
The Geneva talks are a continuation of an attempt two weeks ago to clinch a deal with Iran that would put a brake on its nuclear program in return for an easing of economic sanctions. American officials say those terms are intended only as a first step to a comprehensive agreement that would remove the risk of Iran’s developing a nuclear weapon. And though Mr. Obama has repeatedly said that all options are on the table if Iran is determined to field a nuclear weapon, he sought to underscore the risks of mounting military strikes to disable Iran’s nuclear program, the participant disclosed. A military confrontation, Mr. Obama suggested at the session, could set off a conflagration that would be bigger than the war in Iraq.
Those talks failed, in part because France, one of the six world powers conducting the talks, objected that the proposed deal did not do enough to curb Iran’s uranium enrichment. Western powers fear that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, although Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes. Mr. Obama also said that the Iranians had engaged in human-wave assaults during the Iran-Iraq war, which he presented as a sign of Tehran’s fanaticism. In making that point, Mr. Obama was challenging the assertion by some prominent lawmakers that increasing economic sanctions would lead to more substantial Iranian concessions.
The new round of negotiations, tentatively scheduled to run until Friday, will reveal whether the progress both sides said they made in the earlier negotiations provided sufficient momentum to achieve a breakthrough. The talks here are a continuation of an attempt two weeks ago to clinch an interim deal that would constrain Iran’s nuclear program so negotiators would have time to pursue a more comprehensive agreement.
Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, who is hosting the negotiations, began the talks on Wednesday by meeting senior officials of the P5-plus-1: the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China — and Germany. Ms. Ashton was to meet with the Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, before a formal session with all parties later Wednesday or on Thursday, said Michael Mann, the European Union spokesman. The last round fell short when Iranian officials indicated that they needed to consult with the authorities in Tehran after they were presented with a text by the P5 plus 1, so named because they include the permanent members of the United States Security Council — the United States, Russia, France, Britain and China — and Germany. Experts from the two sides have been in touch since then.
The White House, in a statement released on Tuesday, said the talks presented an “opportunity to halt the progress of the Iranian program and roll it back in key respects, while testing whether a comprehensive resolution can be achieved.” Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, began the talks on Wednesday by meeting diplomats from the P5 plus 1 and then Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister. The United States and its negotiating partners also held a plenary meeting with Mr. Zarif. 
The statement came after President Obama met congressional leaders to update them on the progress of negotiations and fend off criticism at home and abroad that the proposed deal was letting Iran off too lightly. In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday, a bipartisan group of six senators said an agreement easing sanctions “should require Iran to roll back its nuclear program more significantly than now envisioned.” “There is a sense of strong commitment on both sides but important differences need to be narrowed down,” a Western diplomat told reporters here. “The deal has to be sustainable, spelled out in detail.”
Much of the sharpest criticism has come from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who has attacked the terms under negotiation as “an extraordinarily bad deal.” In an interview with CNN on Sunday, he said sanctions should not be eased before Iran gives up its capacity to enrich uranium. Under the emerging agreement, Iran would continue to enrich uranium to the level of 3.5 percent. But steps would be taken to render its stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium less usable for military purposes. Iran would need to accept constraints on its effort to build a reactor that can produce plutonium and would need to accept verification measures. Another aim of an initial agreement is to identify the “parameters” for a more comprehensive, follow-up agreement. A senior Obama administration official said they would not be very detailed but would “set a direction” for the later agreement. 
Mr. Zarif, speaking to reporters in Rome en route to Geneva, said Israel was seeking to “torpedo” negotiations and maintained the upbeat tone that Iran has adopted since the election of Hassan Rouhani as president earlier this year. “I’m willing to accept serious progress instead of an agreement,” he said, “but I’m certain that, with the necessary political will, we can make progress and even reach an agreement.” Mr. Obama was not the only leader who has been trying to shape the debate at home as a preliminary agreement appears near. In a speech to a paramilitary group, Iran’s supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, insisted that there were limits to the concessions that Iran would make and underscored the nation’s “nuclear rights,” an apparent reference to Iran’s plans to continue enriching uranium to the level of 3.5 percent. The speech appeared to be aimed both at placating hard-liners while showing his support for the Iranian officials meeting with international negotiators in Geneva.
In his speech, which was broadcast live on state television, Ayatollah Khamenei repeated that Iran wanted relations with all countries, including the United States, but said American leaders were weak in standing up to Israel, which he called an “illegitimate regime” led by “untouchable rabid dogs.” But Ayatollah Khamenei’s denunciation of Israel as “the rabid dog of the region” was an indication that the apparent progress toward a limited nuclear accord had not led to a diminution of regional tensions.
His speech, illustrated his differences with Mr. Rouhani in the area of foreign policy. Mr. Rouhani has promoted a campaign of détente with the West and a less strident foreign policy. But Ayatollah Khamenei, who has been the supreme leader since 1989, said Iran’s relations with the West could never be normal. President François Hollande of France called on Iran to take steps to show that its nuclear efforts were peaceful instead of making “unacceptable” declarations. “Iran must offer answers and not a certain number of provocative statements,” he said.
“Our existence is rooted in confronting arrogance,” he said. “We must continue to disappoint our enemies.” In Moscow, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel met with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and continued his calls for an agreement that would end Iran’s uranium enrichment activities, among other steps.

Nick Cumming-Bruce reported from Geneva, and Thomas Erdbrink from Tehran.

“We believe that you can get a better deal, a better accord,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “And it demands persistence and consistency.”

Michael R. Gordon reported from Geneva, and Thomas Erdbrink from Tehran. David M. Herszenhorn contributed reporting from Moscow, and Nick Cumming-Bruce from Geneva.