The Wall Street Journal, Beirut/Washington, 19 Jan 2012 – Iran said it was ready to return to negotiations over its nuclear program, though U.S. officials said they had yet to see proof of that claim, as some international efforts to ratchet up pressure on Tehran progressed.
Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday that Iran would like to restart talks in Turkey with the diplomatic bloc of world powers that has been involved in the negotiations effort, according to news reports from Turkey. The grouping comprises the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany, and is known as the P5+1.
Mr. Salehi’s comments came amid heightened tensions over sanctions against Iran and a threat by Tehran to block oil trade through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route. The final decision on talks with the West and any compromise lies with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The European Union is coalescing around a July 1 start for its proposed crude-oil embargo on Iran, several diplomats said Wednesday, while Russia’s foreign minister said new sanctions weren’t the best route.
U.S. officials said EU foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton, who heads the P5+1 bloc, sent a letter to Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, last month requesting a resumption of talks. These officials said Wednesday that Iran had yet to respond.
‘If the Iranians are serious about restarting talks then they need to respond to that letter,’ White House spokesman Jay Carney said. ‘That is the channel by which…the restarting of those talks would take place.’
Iran’s Parliament member Ali Motahari, a vocal critic of President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad, told Iranian media on Wednesday that U.S. President Barack Obama had sent a letter directly to Mr. Khamenei warning over the strait and proposing talks. U.S. officials denied that claim, saying that a channel for communications was already in place through Mrs. Ashton’s offices.
U.S. officials said a U.S. diplomatic message was communicated to Tehran this month warning against any provocative actions in the Strait of Hormuz and stressing Washington’s desire to resolve its differences with Iran diplomatically.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of Russia, a Security Council member, meanwhile, said new sanctions would stifle Iran’s economy and hurt its people, according to the Associated Press.
Moscow, which built Iran’s first nuclear power plant, has backed some earlier U.N. sanctions against Iran, but has in recent months rejected new ones.
Mr. Lavrov expressed concern that tensions raised the possibility of a military conflict.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Wednesday that any decision about an Israeli attack on Iran was ‘very far off,’ Reuters reported.
Mr. Salehi’s apparent offer of talks follows a pattern by Iran in which military officials rattle sabers while diplomats advocate dialogue. In another recent concession, Iran signaled it was ready to allow U.N. inspectors into Iranian nuclear facilities. Inspectors are expected to arrive in Iran later this month. Western nations say, despite Tehran’s denials, that Iran seeks to develop nuclear arms.
EU members have agreed in principle to a ban on oil imports from Iran, but concerns remain about the need for a transition to alternative supply sources. EU member states have agreed that the need for an embargo should be re-evaluated half way through the transition period, diplomats said.
The EU is also likely to impose a ban on imports of Iranian petrochemical products and would probably ban exports of key technology intended for Iran’s petrochemical industry, according to two diplomats. European investment and financing of Iran’s petrochemical sector would also likely be banned.
The EU is expected to finalize details of the embargo and other sanctions-including the time frame for their implementation-at a meeting in Brussels on Monday.