High-level talks are taking place in Oman ahead of the 24 November deadline for a comprehensive deal on Iran’s nuclear programme.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU negotiator Catherine Ashton. They will be trying to find ways of overcoming disagreements on uranium enrichment and sanctions relief.Iran denies claims by world powers that it is trying to make a nuclear weapon.It insists its uranium enrichment programme is purely for peaceful purposes.
Sources have told the BBC that the most senior aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – Ali Akbar Velayati – may be joining the talks.Sunday’s meeting comes a year after Iran and six world powers – the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China – agreed an interim deal to limit Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for some relief from Western sanctions.Iran had promised to further co-operate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) following the election of President Hassan Rouhani last year in return for an easing of the sanctions.Although progress has been made, Mr Kerry has said real gaps in the negotiations remain. The toughest issues include how much capacity to enrich uranium Iran could retain, and how quickly international sanctions would be phased out.A recent confidential IAEA report seen by the BBC could also complicate progress in the talks.The report said Iran was failing to answer questions about suspected covert activity at some of its nuclear facilities.The IAEA said that although Iran agreed in May to provide information on two out of about a dozen areas of suspicion by August, it is yet to give answers.The BBC’s Barbara Plett Usher in the Omani capital Muscat says both sides recognise there is a historic moment of opportunity, and have expressed concern about the consequences of failing to reach a deal by the 24 November deadline.Mr Kerry has also insisted that the nuclear talks are not linked to possible co-operation with Iran in the regional fight against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.Recent reports in the US media described a letter from President Barack Obama to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei suggesting a nuclear deal could benefit their common interest in fighting the group. -BBC
