Iran seeks concessions in Baghdad nuclear talks

BAGHDAD: Iran is demanding that world powers set specific timetables and goals in talks Wednesday over Tehran’s nuclear program, a senior Iranian government official said before a second round of negotiations.
The push for milestones by Iran reflects apparent efforts to force concessions from the West on sanctions in exchange for gradually addressing international concerns over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions.
Tehran hopes to leave Baghdad with a clear framework for future talks and potential dealmaking, the official said. Western diplomats have voiced similar concerns, although few believe the discussions in Baghdad will yield breakthroughs in the showdowns over Iran’s nuclear program.
The US and allies fear Iran could use its nuclear expertise to build atomic weapons. Iran claims it only seeks nuclear reactors for energy and research.
Iranian negotiators, who met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki hours before the talks were to open, would not identify any specific offers or benchmarks they wanted to see by the day’s end.
The Iranian official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate process more candidly.
The US has been vague about its immediate goals, with officials saying the talks will gauge Iran’s seriousness and explore elements of a possible agreement.
Washington has showed little willingness to bargain, despite a tentative agreement this week brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect the Parchin military complex southeast of Tehran. That’s where the UN believes Iran ran explosive tests in 2003 needed to set off a nuclear charge. Tehran says Parchin is not a nuclear site.
White House press secretary Jay Carney called the announcement a “step forward” and “a step in the right direction.” But he stressed that the administration will “make judgments about Iran’s behavior based on actions, not just promises or agreements.”
Negotiators from the US and five other world powers arrived late Wednesday morning in Baghdad to build on discussions last month in Istanbul talks that were seen as an icebreaker more than a year after earlier talks collapsed, though no firm decisions were made.
Analyst Hassan Abedini, who is being briefed by Iran’s delegation, said Tehran expects the USand other world powers to offer some concessions in return for the tentative agreement with the UN’s nuclear agency.
“Now the ball is in the (world powers’) court to reciprocate it,” Abedini said Wednesday.
He said Iran is demanding “a give-and-take approach,” to the negotiations.
The Baghdad talks, involving the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany, could offer a test of how much the US and allies are willing to bend from demands for Iran to halt all uranium enrichment and instead concentrate on just stopping the highest-grade production.
Iran is sticking to its right to enrich uranium as a signatory of UN nuclear treaties. The West and others fear the level of enrichment Iran is doing can be turned quickly into weapons-grade uranium.
Iran has repeatedly denied it seeks nuclear arms and says its reactors are only for power and medical research.
At the heart of the debate are sanctions the West has placed on Iran to force it to the bargaining table — particularly on a European Union decision to cut all crude oil imports from Iran that are set to take effect July 1. The 27-nation EU accounts for just 18 percent of Iran’s total oil exports.
Earlier this week, the US Senate backed proposals for further sanctions on Iran, including requiring companies listed on US stock exchanges to disclose any Iran-related business. US and European measures already have targeted Iran’s oil exports — its chief revenue source — and effectively blocked the country from international banking networks.
Oil fell to a seven-month low near $91 a barrel Wednesday in Asia on hopes of progress in the talks.