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VIENNA — As talks on a permanent nuclear agreement with Iran resumed in Vienna on Tuesday, under the shadow of tensions between the West and Russia, Iran said the onus of ensuring progress was on the world powers with which it is negotiating.
VIENNA — Talks on a permanent nuclear agreement with Iran resumed in Vienna on Tuesday, heavily shadowed by tensions between the West and Russia.
“Important and tough discussions ahead today,” Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said on Twitter. “We have held our end of the bargain. Time for our counterparts to keep theirs.”
“Important and tough discussions ahead today,” Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said on Twitter. “We have held our end of the bargain. Time for our counterparts to keep theirs.”
Mr. Zarif was apparently referring to limits on Iranian nuclear activities outlined in a temporary nuclear accord that took effect on Jan. 20 and that Iran agreed to in exchange for temporary sanctions relief from the West.
Mr. Zarif was apparently referring to limits on Iranian nuclear activities outlined in a temporary nuclear accord that took effect on Jan. 20. Iran signed on to the accord in exchange for temporary relief of sanctions from the West.
The latest talks began after Mr. Zarif met with Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, shortly before the full delegations sat down together for discussions expected to end late on Wednesday, according to a senior State Department official.
On Tuesday, Mr. Zarif met with Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, first, shortly before the full delegations sat down together. The discussions are expected to end late on Wednesday.
It was unclear what effect the crisis in Ukraine would have on the talks, either by distracting Western and Russian attention, by diluting Moscow’s commitment to a settlement or by turning the Iranian nuclear impasse into a bargaining chip in what has been cast as a looming new Cold War.
It was unclear what effect the crisis in Ukraine would have on the talks, whether by distracting Western and Russian attention, diluting Moscow’s commitment to a settlement or turning the Iranian nuclear impasse into a bargaining chip in what has been cast as a looming new Cold War.
Although the talks have no direct connection to Ukraine, their success hinges on solidarity among the six world powers: the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia, plus Germany — in favor of a tough agreement with Iran to significantly scale back its nuclear program.
Although the talks have no direct connection to Ukraine, their success hinges on solidarity among the six world powers: the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia, plus Germany — in favor of a tough agreement with Iran to significantly scale back its nuclear program.
If Russia signals that its cooperation with the West has weakened, that will reduce pressure on Iran to make concessions, said experts knowledgeable about the talks.
If Russia signals that its cooperation with the West has weakened, that will reduce pressure on Iran to make concessions, said experts knowledgeable about the talks.
A senior American official, speaking before the talks and just before Crimeans voted to secede from Ukraine, indicated concern about possible consequences from the crisis on the Black Sea. Since Western nations consider the Crimea vote illegal, but have been unable to deter President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who declared the annexation of Crimea on Tuesday, the situation for the Iran talks would now seem more worrisome.
“I think that we all hope that the incredibly difficult situation in Ukraine will not create issues for this negotiation,” said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.
“We hope that whatever happens in the days ahead, whatever actions we and the international community take, depending upon the decisions and the choices that Russia makes, that any actions that Russia subsequently takes will not put these negotiations at risk,” the official said.
Experts outside the government were more explicit.
“If President Putin goes ahead with his apparent intention to annex Crimea, we’re going to have to sanction Russia, and they are going to have to retaliate, and it’s really going to screw up the P5-plus-one negotiations with Iran,” said Gary Samore, a former senior aide on nonproliferation on the National Security Council in President Obama’s first term. He is now executive director for research at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, as well as the president of United Against Nuclear Iran, a group that advocates strong sanctions against Iran until the nuclear dispute is resolved.
“The problem will be that Iran will feel much less pressured to make any concessions if they think the P5-plus-one are squabbling,” Mr. Samore said. “The Iranians will be watching and waiting; they are not inclined to make any concessions anyway, but they are going to be less inclined until there is a resolution” of the situation in Ukraine.
Even before the Ukraine crisis, there had been no expectation that a deal would be reached quickly. The temporary accord, which lasts until July and is renewable, was designed to give negotiators more latitude to reach a permanent agreement.
Even before the Ukraine crisis, there had been no expectation that a deal would be reached quickly. The temporary accord, which lasts until July and is renewable, was designed to give negotiators more latitude to reach a permanent agreement.
But negotiators always hope to make headway on smaller points so that they can begin to attack the bigger points of difference, and it appears that the potential spillover from Ukraine tensions could make it difficult to make progress even on more minor issues, Western officials said. At the last meeting, they agreed on a framework for the talks and a schedule.
The two sides are far apart, with Iran adamant about retaining its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes and the West determined to find measures that will prevent Iran from ever turning the country’s supply of low-enriched uranium into higher-enriched bomb-grade fuel.
Although Shiite Iran denies having any intention of making a nuclear weapon, evidence that it appeared to have started developing long-range missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and that it tried to hide some of its uranium enrichment facilities has made the West, as well as Israel and Iran’s Sunni Arab neighbors, suspicious.
As part of the temporary agreement reached in November, Iran agreed to reduce its stock of uranium enriched to close to 20 percent purity in return for moderate sanctions relief, including access to $4.2 billion in Iranian cash frozen in foreign banks.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations monitor of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, verified earlier this month that Iran was complying with the temporary agreement.
The talks are being watched closely in Israel, which has not ruled out a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. In the newspaper Haaretz on Tuesday, Israel’s defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, was quoted as saying that the United States “should lead the campaign against Iran” but instead was negotiating with Tehran.
The talks are being watched closely in Israel, which has not ruled out a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. In the newspaper Haaretz on Tuesday, Israel’s defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, was quoted as saying that the United States “should lead the campaign against Iran” but instead was negotiating with Tehran.
“Therefore, on this matter, we have to behave as though we have nobody to look out for us but ourselves,” he said in a remark that some analysts said did not necessarily amount to a call for a military strike.
“Therefore, on this matter, we have to behave as though we have nobody to look out for us but ourselves,” he said in a remark that some analysts said did not necessarily amount to a call for a military strike.
