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            Negotiators Pressed for Time Ahead of Iran Nuclear Talks

   by Al Pessin

   Iranian negotiators sit down with the United Nations contact group
   Thursday to start the second round of talks on Iran's nuclear program
   since President Hassan Rouhani took office in July. It is only the
   second round but there is already time pressure.
   The first round of talks, just three weeks ago, was praised by both
   sides for having a new atmosphere and for a potentially useful new
   Iranian proposal. With a total of seven nations and the European Union
   sending delegations to the talks, no one provided details on the
   proposal, which negotiators said was a sign of the seriousness of the
   discussions.
   From what little is known, Iran wants to agree on the ultimate target
   of the talks and also on a series of intermediate steps designed to
   build mutual trust and ease economic sanctions that have crippled
   Iran's economy.
   The United Nations delegation - made up of the five permanent Security
   Council members and Germany, and led by the EU - wants guarantees that
   Iran's nuclear program will not lead to the production of a nuclear
   bomb.
   Analysts believe Iran is already dangerously close to doing that, and
   the United States and Israel have threatened military action to stop
   the potential final stages of development.
   Key questions include whether Iran will provide enough transparency and
   accept enough restrictions on its nuclear program to satisfy the U.N.
   team, and whether the international community will ease sanctions
   quickly enough to satisfy hardliners in Iran.
   Many experts are skeptical, but in an interview, the chief U.S.
   negotiator, Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman, told VOA's Persian
   News Network she saw "a very different approach" in the last round of
   talks.
   "We are beginning to understand each other, to see each other's needs
   and the aspirations of the people of each of our countries," he said.
   "And I think that's very valuable."
   Sherman says there are other issues on which the United States and Iran
   can work together but only after the nuclear dispute is resolved.
   Analysts say potentially chief among those issues is the Syrian civil
   war.
   In this week's talks, the negotiators will review the results of a
   technical meeting last week, intended to clarify some aspects of the
   Iranian proposal. The topics are extremely technical, involving levels
   of enrichment of nuclear fuel and the eventual unraveling of complex
   sanctions.
   One achievement of the new approach has been a reduction in talk of an
   attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
   Iran has slowed its enrichment and research activities, but Professor
   Alexandre Vautravers of the Geneva Center for Security Policy says talk
   of war will return if these negotiations do not make significant
   progress fairly quickly.
   "The greatest risk is slowing down the process or stalling the process,
   because, let's be very clear, we're talking on a window of
   opportunity.  This window of opportunity may all of a sudden close," he
   said. "We have to be cognizant and aware of this time factor, which is
   extremely critical."
   The negotiators know they are under time pressure and both sides say
   they are ready to move quickly. The first meeting, last month, was
   important for starting a new process. This one could indicate whether
   real progress is possible.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/negotiators-pressed-for-time-ahead-of-iran-nuclear-talks/1784893.html