The Geneva Talks: No Breakthrough, Yet much Accomplished
NEW YORK, Nov. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following news is being distributed today by the American Iranian Council.
Kayvon Afshari, follow on Twitter @KayvonAfshari
Director of Communications, American Iranian Council
After three days of serious, high-level talks in Geneva, the P5+1 announced that a deal has yet to be reached on Iran's nuclear program. Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign policy chief, said that they would meet again on November 20th at the senior diplomat level, rather than the foreign minister level.
Secretary of State John Kerry stayed upbeat, telling journalists, "We came to Geneva to narrow the differences, and I can tell you without any reservations, we made significant progress. It takes time to build confidence between countries that have really been at odds with each other for a long time now."
Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister in charge of the nuclear negotiations struck a similar tone, saying, "We are working together and are hopeful we will be able to reach agreement when we meet again"
While many observers who were hoping for a breakthrough view these developments as a failure, astute analysts should keep in mind that tremendous progress has been made in a short period of time and that a final resolution will be a long, arduous process. For the first time in years, the two sides are sitting at the table and actively negotiating with one another on the highly-technical details regarding Iran's nuclear program. In fact, Mr. Kerry had over eight hours of meetings with Mr. Zarif, something quite new in the post-Revolution history of US-Iran relations. It is now becoming normal for American and Iranian senior diplomats to directly engage with one another, something that was not yet the case just two months ago during the United Nations General Assembly. This is a meaningful accomplishment in the long process of normalizing US-Iran relations, and the American Iranian Council congratulates them for it.
The next ten days until the upcoming round of negotiations will give all sides the opportunity to think deeply about what lies ahead. Unfortunately, some detractors may see this as an opportunity to spoil a potential deal. Some US Congressmen may call for further sanctions on Iran in this interim period— an unwise move that would be against the national interest of both the United States and Iran.
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SOURCE American Iranian Council
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