The drama of last week’s revelation that Iran has been secretly building an underground uranium enrichment facility may have raised expectations that this week’s Geneva talks would be a kind of high-noon showdown. Instead, Thursday’s meeting between Iran’s nuclear negotiator and representatives of the Western powers, Russia and China is more likely to be the opening exchange of a tortuous conversation that will continue for months.
The renewal of talks with Tehran follows President Barack Obama’s warning to Iran that it must discuss Western concerns over its nuclear program or else face a new round of sanctions. But Iran has hardly been in an accommodating mood. A week ago it wrote to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to reveal it was building a uranium enrichment facility in the mountains near Qom. (President Obama announced the existence of the hitherto secret facility four days later, and U.S. officials claimed that Tehran had preempted him only because it was aware that it had been caught red-handed.)
Tags: News, Talking With Iran
