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Brits Continue Sabotage of Iran Talks, While Putin Pushes Continued Negotiations
19 June 2012
As the talks between Iran and the P5+1 group were taking place in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin met Obama for a bilateral meeting during the G-20 meeting in Los Cabos, Mexico, and a joint statement was issued that addressed the Iran nuclear issue. "Recognizing Iran’s right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, we agree that it must exert serious efforts aimed at restoring international trust in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program," the joint U.S.-Russia statement says, according to RiaNovosti, June 18. "For that, Tehran must fully abide by the commitments contained in the appropriate resolutions of the UN Security Council and the IAEA Board of Governors for swift resolution of all outstanding issues," the statement said. "Our common goal is an all-embracing negotiated settlement based on the principles of a phased approach and reciprocity, and expect constructive negotiations with Iran via the six power talks, including the negotiating rounds in Moscow on June 18-19," the document said. The statement came out this afternoon (Central Time), hours after the first day of Moscow talks had ended for the day in Moscow. Speaking in Moscow after the first session that lasted five hours, Russia’s chief negotiator Sergei Ryabkov told reporters, "The talks are so difficult that two days won’t be enough for us." He said that he wants another round of talks to be scheduled after the two days in Moscow are completed. "The difficulty here is not only quite a distance between the positions of the parties," Ryabkov said, "but also the sequencing of the effort: what comes first, what comes next, what reciprocity means. It’s very complex." China View reported that Ryabkov added that, "The main thing is that the sides have demonstrated their political wills to continue the dialogue...." He stressed that, "Not a moment was wasted," and urged that after these Moscow talks are completed in the second session on June 19, that another round of talks be scheduled to continue. Iran’s deputy chief negotiator, Ali Bagheri, told reporters that the talks were "serious" and "constructive," reported China View. "Two plenary sessions were held today in constructive and serious ways. Bagheri is also the Deputy Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. He comes from a prominent family of Ayatollahs, and his brother is married to the daughter of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Prior to the meeting, Tony Blair’s Lady Catherine Ashton and her EU staff tried to sabotage the talks before they even began by issuing unacceptable demands. Ashton’s adviser, Helga Marie Schmid sent a letter to Bagheri last week in which she stated that "the P5+1 is willing only to discuss the proposal she put on the table in Baghdad," reported the Christian Science Monitor today. "Iran must immediately cease uranium enrichment at 19.75%," the CSM described Schmid as saying, "in return for which the P5+1 will make minor concessions to Iran—providing Iran with spare parts for its old civilian aircraft bought from Europe and the United States, supplying some nuclear isotopes used in medical treatment, and cooperating with Iran on nuclear safety issues. "None of the tough sanctions already imposed on Iran, or about to be imposed on July 1, will be cancelled or even suspended," Schmid’s letter reportedly said. These are the ongoing British-U.S. threats that are designed to ensure there is no agreement, but over the last several weeks, a serious grouping of specialists such as former CIA official Paul Pillar, and former Iranian negotiator, Dr. Hossein Mousavian, now a visiting professor in the U.S., have put the blame on the U.S. and London for the sabotage. |