'Concerned' Kerry Joins Troubled Iran Nuclear Talks as Russia Urges 'New Spirit'

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Vienna Thursday to join troubled nuclear talks four days before a deadline, with Russia warning that getting a deal will be "very difficult."

Speaking in Paris earlier, Kerry said that together with British counterpart Philip Hammond -- who Wednesday said he was "not optimistic" -- he was "concerned about the gaps."

"We all are," Kerry said.

Hammond had also suggested that the best hope was making enough progress to extend the deadline for a second time after an earlier cut-off point of July 20 was missed.

But Kerry, due to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Thursday evening, said the parties "are not discussing an extension. We are negotiating to have an agreement." 

Iran and the six powers have been negotiating intensively since February to turn an interim accord with Iran reached a year ago into a lasting agreement before November 24.

Such a deal, after 12 years of rising tensions, is aimed at easing fears that Tehran will develop nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian activities -- an ambition the Islamic republic has always hotly denied.

Russia's main negotiator in the talks, Sergei Ryabkov, said Thursday that the talks were being held in a "tense atmosphere" and that agreeing the mammoth accord would be tough.

"In the current situation it will be very difficult to get a deal unless there is a new spirit," Ryabkov was quoted as saying by Russian agency RIA Novosti.

He warned: "A possibility like we have at the moment (to get a deal) is very rare. This is a crucial moment and to let it pass would be a serious mistake with grave consequences."

Some areas appear provisionally settled in what would be a highly complex deal that would run for many years, even decades.

But two key issues remain: enrichment -- rendering uranium suitable for peaceful uses but also, at high purities, for a weapon -- and the pace of the lifting of sanctions.

Diplomats say Iran wants all sanctions lifted at once. The six world powers want however to stagger any suspension to be sure that Iran would not renege on its commitments.

Iran wants to massively ramp up the number of enrichment centrifuges -- in order, it says, to make fuel for a fleet of future reactors -- while the West wants them dramatically reduced.

Iran's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi stuck to this position on Thursday, saying Iran would increase its enrichment capacity to 190,000 SWU (Separative Work Units) -- around 20 times its current ability -- within eight years.

The six powers say Iran has no such need in the foreseeable future. Russia is contracted until 2021 to fuel Iran's only power reactor at Bushehr and last week signed a deal to build -- and fuel -- several others.

Salehi also said the much-reported idea of exporting its stockpile of low-enriched uranium -- enough for around eight bombs if purified to weapons grade -- "makes no sense."

Upping the ante, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that a deal was possible but only if the other side showed "political will ... and doesn't make excessive demands."

Iran's speaker of parliament Ali Larijani meanwhile told Iranian media: "We are constantly cooperating (but the other side) is raising the tone."

He added: "We hope that the other side will behave in a rational manner ... and won't take the wrong path."

Paris said Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius would be in Vienna on Friday but it was unclear when other counterparts might arrive. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whose country is a crucial player in the talks, will only attend if there is sufficient progress, Ryabkov told Russian media this week.

"With the arrival of Kerry the talks will move into a more serious direction," RIA Novosti cited a source in the Russian delegation as saying on Thursday.

"Much depends on what decisions he will bring from Washington".

Lavrov was due to meet his Saudi counterpart in Moscow on Friday, and therefore cannot be in Vienna before Saturday, a foreign ministry spokesman said in Moscow on Thursday.

"A deal is still possible by November 24," Arms Control Association analyst Kelsey Davenport told Agence France-Presse.

"The remaining obstacles can be overcome if both sides are willing to show some flexibility."

Comments 8
Default-user-icon to DETER buzz words (Guest) 20 November 2014, 18:55

It's the same pretext given by bigjohn's to excuse their support for Nasser, Arab Nationalists, the PLO and Syrian army in slaughtering the Lebanese Christians, they were fighting paid racists dominated by western colonialists and "HATED Zionist worthless puppets" as opposed to Lebanese NATIVES. to DETER

Thumb _mowaten_ 20 November 2014, 18:56

the west cant accept a country that works for its own good. they got too used to subservient docile countries like saudi, who serve foreign interests before their own. (why else would saudi continue to flood the world markets with cheap oil, bringing the prices down and harming the interest of ALL oil producing countries including saudi?)

Missing coolmec 20 November 2014, 21:06

Ya mowaten
Here is the answer to your question
The lower oil prices serve 2 purposes
1- reduce Russia's oil income as a result of the Ukranian crisis and in return the US will bomb ISIS
2-By reducing the oil price Saudi Arabia is protecting its oil sales cause it is making harder to extract shale oil at the current level of oil price

Thumb _mowaten_ 21 November 2014, 10:34

terrorist i already know you're cheap as dirt, your insults dont mean anything to me.
what you're saying, without even realizing it, is exactly my point: saudi is losing a lot of money selling oil at cheap prices so that people all around the world can pay less. but they dont do that to save money for common people, it's primarily for the industries.

the US is the world top consumer (19m barrels/day, china is second at 10mb/d) so they are the main beneficiary. russia is far behind at 3mb/d so coolmec your baseless theory doesnt even begin to make sense.

but the main point here which you all seem to forget is that the biggest part of the gas prices is not the oil, nor the refining costs, it's taxes. saudi loses tens of billions a year, and makes other oil producing countries lose more billions, so that the US can make tens of billions a year taxing their own people on the gas they use. it's basically a very, very expensive gift.

Thumb _mowaten_ 21 November 2014, 10:35

and anonnyme nobody except you is obsessed here, you cant think of anything without bringing it to hezbollah or iran, and obsessing over your hatred and jealousy. khod nafass from time to time dude.

Missing coolmec 20 November 2014, 21:03

If Israel has nuclear weapons why can't Iran have them too?

Missing coolmec 21 November 2014, 02:05

@anonym
do you really think Israel will give up its nuclear arsenal? I happen to think the only way to counter balance Israel is to create a mutual deterrence similar to the US and the former USSR

Missing peace 21 November 2014, 14:31

funny how M8ers become aggressive when it comes to defending iran... but i haven't seen such aggressiveness in M14ers defending KSA... on the contrary the majority of M14 do not defend KSA with such fierceness they even criticize saudi arabia for what it is: a dictatorship comparable to iran....