The goal of the talks for the United States and its European allies is to extend the “breakout time” that Iran would need to produce enough fissile material for a bomb. Experts and diplomats report for that goal to be achieved, Iran would have to restrict enriching uranium to a low fissile concentration, stop most of its centrifuges now used for such work, limit nuclear research, and submit to highly intrusive monitoring by U.N. inspectors. Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi released a statement which suggested tough talks ahead.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other Iranian officials have repeatedly made it clear, according to ABC News, that such reductions of its nuclear capacities would be unacceptable. Araghchi told reporters in Vienna, “Dismantling (the) nuclear program is not on the agenda.”
“What our officials started will continue. We will not renege. I have no opposition,” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told a crowd in the northern city of Tabriz on Monday to chants of “Death to America”, reported Reuters.
Iran is home to one of the world’s oldest civilizations, yet the negotiations-if successful, could help to end years of hostility between Iran and the West and to ease the danger of a new war in the Middle East, as well as open up vast new possibilities for Western businesses. Tehran is the capital and largest city, serving as the cultural, commercial, and industrial center of the nation.
Analysts and Diplomats have said that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s decision to pursue negotiations with the six powers in spite of the skepticism he shares with his hard-line supporters, is the result of Iran’s worsening economic conditions.
Huffington Post reported that President Barack Obama was urged by house members not to vote on an Iran sanctions bill while an interim agreement between the Iran and the West is in place. Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reported that the talks got off to a “very good beginning.”
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